Charlie Wilson's War (film)

This movie, Charlie Wilson's War, is about a real person, US Congressman Charlie Wilson and his efforts in getting funding to support the Afghan mujahideen in fighting against Soviet aggressors. It is about a small group of determined people, setting the ground for change affecting the whole world. It is actually based on a book by George Crile.

The Congressman, Charlie Wilson, leads a life quite unlike what you expect of a politician. Instead of avoiding vices in public life, he embraces them. He is portrayed as a man who loves women, employing only pretty women in his office, stating that "You can teach a girl to type, but you can't teach a girl to grow tits."

Yet behind all that is actually a man who cared enough to try to make a difference. Once he believed in the cause (of freeing Afghanistan from the Soviets), he actually set down to securing the funding needed for the Afghan mujahideen to get modern weapons so that they stand a fighting chance against the Soviet arsenal. It eventually resulted in the Soviet Army being driven out of Afghanistan, showing the rest of the world that the Soviet Army is not invincible and eventually leading to the crumbling of the Soviet Union.

Particularly important is that towards the end of the show, he tried to get the US government to see the need to rebuild Afghanistan, rather than simply washing their hands off the matter now that the Soviets have left. He cautioned against simply making the changes and then leaving, and advocated the need to make the change and stay behind to rebuild things. While there is little glory and little short term gains to get from rebuilding, the effects are longer term, something which short-sighted (short-lived?) governments are probably not concerned about. I guess this is true of most governments, and policy makers should ask themselves if they are just effecting change for the sake of change, or whether they are willing to follow through with the changes.