Book recommendation

"Charlie Wilson's War: The Extraordinary Story of the Largest Covert Operation in History" by George Crile.

Charlie Wilson, a U.S. naval academy graduate and, more importantly, a congressman from East Texas, almost single-handedly managed to transform the CIA's covert support of the Afghan resistance to the 1979 Soviet invasion from a small operation designed to "bleed" the Soviet army into a full scale effort to kill as many Soviet troops as possible and force them to leave the country.

Crile, a former producer for CBS's "60 Minutes" first became involved through his role as a producer but then wrote the full story in this fascinating book. It's full of larger than life characters made even better by Crile's first-rate story telling. A 2007 movie based on the book was excellent and is worth watching just for Philip Seymour Hoffman's portrayal of CIA agent Gust Avrakatos.

Wilson played the stereotypical bigger than life Texan for all it was worth. He is tall but likes to wear boots with elevated hells to boost his height further. His voice was loud and booming and, of course, he favored big belt buckles and even bigger hats.

He served for twenty-four years as a congressman representing conservative Lufkin, Texas despite a scandal involving showgirls, cocaine, and a hot tub in Vegas's Ceasar's Palace. He was an alcoholic and an inveterate womanizer. Somehow he managed to secure a seat on the House defense appropriations committee, despite the opposition of the Democratic leadership, and a seat on the House intelligence oversight committee. From this position of power, which he gained in part because of his steadfast support of Israel even though there were no Jews in his District, he managed to change the course of history.

It's a long book but I can honestly say I was never bored. I learned a lot about how the government works and even came out thinking less of Lt. Col. Oliver North than I had before I read the book, a not inconsiderable achievement.

I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in U.S. foreign policy, Pakistan, or great stories about unforgettable contemporary characters.