The movie “Charlie Wilson’s War,” based on the nonfiction book by George Crile, features Tom Hanks as Charlie Wilson, the well-connected, hard-drinking, womanizing Democratic congressman from Texas who found the key to defeating the Soviet Union after its invasion and occupation of Afghanistan during the Cold War.
As dramatically depicted In the movie, Wilson visits a huge, squalid Afghan refugee camp in Pakistan and realizes that the Afghan mujahideen are fighting America’s fight against the Soviet Union. With the aid of a wealthy, beautiful Texas woman (Julia Roberts) Charlie appropriates funds to arm the mujahideen with sophisticated weapons, which they use to shoot down Soviet helicopters and blow up Soviet tanks.
The Soviet Army is forced into a humiliating retreat from Afghanistan, and two years later, the Soviet Union collapses as the Cold War comes to an end. It might seem like a Cold War fairy tale, except that it really happened.
If the Ukraine-Israel military aid package clears the Senate, which appears likely, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) will face a........