Upvote:5
It was Zbigniew Brzezinski who was the real architect. It was his grand strategy to deliver to the Soviets what he called the "Soviet Vietnam".
It was Zbigniew Brzezinski who wanted to engage the Soviets but faced opposition on the home front when it came to funding and supply of weapons.
In comes Charlie Wilson, a flamboyant cowboy with a boyish charm and a lot of contacts with lobbyists, evangelists and Senators. He took an unusually high interest in Afghanistan even when many of his own partymen concentrated their efforts on Central America and the drug wars. He was discreetly called in by the Reagan administration.
It was Zbigniew Brzezinski's brains with Charlie Wilson's charms coupled with Avrokatos' team's analytical skills and planning and detailing of the plans.
There is another figure who was ignored that was a guy called Raymond Casey who pulled all the strings to make all this possible. He pulled up an unwilling or rather incapabale CIA to pool their resources to support the Mujahiddeen. He didn't play any role in the actual strategic decisions though.
The movie portrays the defeat of the Soviets as Charlie Wilson's idea from start to finish. He was a just one of the big team who made all this possible. In fact, he was a tool in the hands of Zbigniew Brzenzski who lacked his charm and contacts.
Charlie Wilson is potrayed as a lone ranger figure taking on the Indians all by himself. The movie isn't complete fantasy. But it was a cowboy movie in a political drama setting with a fake hero. The real heroes were Zbigniew Brzezinski and Raymond Casey.