lessons from the world.

meet charlie wilson.

as the democrat texas congressman in the 1980s and a member of the house appropriations committee, he planned, led and executed the biggest and most expensive covert operations which resulted in the end of the soviet-afghan war, and later the cold war.

honestly, you would think that the man who triggered the events that led to such an important historical moment would be remembered, but hardly any americans have heard of him till the movie, charlie wilson's war came out.

confession: i only bought the dvd 'cos i know it's directed by mike nichols, written by aaron sorkin and helmed by tom hanks, which ensured that it'll be a good movie.

but as with any good, well-written, well-shot movie, tv series or book, it taught me and enriched my knowledge of things that i normally would care less about.

so if you're curious, charlie wilson used black appropriations and secretly funded and aided the muja*hideen in afghanistan to drive away that soviets from their country. he got afghan neighbours of israel, pakistan to help with supplying of weapons and vehicles to aid the mujah*ideen. all in secret. he was driven by what he saw at the refugee camps, and frustrated with the CIA's lukewarm position on the war and not doing anything, and hence decided to take matters into his own hands, helped along by CIA middle-east expert and a texas wealthy socialite.

in the end, the once-weak and helpless muj*ahideen freedom fighters and afghan civilians now fought back with much ferocity, to the surprise of the soviets, forcing them to retreat and exit the country.

this marked the first of US foreign policy. funding the anti-communists. then after it is over, they just wash their hands of the blood and leave.

charlie wilson, after appropriating US$1billion for that war, now asks for a tiny fraction more to aid the afghans to rebuild their country. afghanistan was left in tatters. no schools, homes, roads, infrastructure.

the author of the book which the movie was based on, charlie wilson's war, said that this has led to a power vacuum in afghanistan. and this vacuum gave rise to the rise of the tali*ban and osa*ma bin lade*n. together with the weapons, money and military equipment left over from the cold war, the tal*iban was able to rise from the ashes to what it is today, inadvertently leading to the uprising of terrorism and 9/11.

it's really interesting to think about what america can learn from this and apply it to the wars it started in afghanistan and iraq now. which has prompted barack obama to talk about the withdrawal of troops slowly from mid-east and exiting from the region in a responsible manner; while bush is still wanting to send 10,000 more troops there.

it's also interesting to note the idea of freedom fighters. someone once told me, "one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter". if you look from another perspective, aren't the suicide bombers who are killing US soldiers doing it to drive away the US from their lands, just like how the mujahideen were trying to drive away their soviet occupiers?

***

today in ST's review section, was an article from new york times. a sharp, insightful commentary on the rise of china and the continued diminishing of US as a global superpower. he compares arriving in dodgy, rundown la guardia airport in NYC and driving through the busy, dirty streets with rundown buildings of queens and manhattan to the big shiny spanking new beijing int'l aiport, getting to the clean beautiful city on the maglev train within an hour. which i can attest to 'cos i've experienced the shabbiness of la guardia and the shine of china's rising cosmopolitan cities.

the world is slowly showing america that it is no longer the superpower. russia's defiance with the georgia conflict, china's rapid rise, india's booming economy, singapore, tiny singapore, investing in its biggest corporations to save them from bankruptcy.

the writer ends by asserting that it's time for america to start rebuilding itself. to turn its attention, money and resources inwards and focus on the crumbling american society where millions have no access to quality education, healthcare, health insurance, in the midst of rising costs of living, high gas prices, the housing market going down, inflation and living under the threat of inadequate gun control and domestic terrorism.

the question: while america goes repair its wounds, is china prepared to assume the role of the global superpower? no doubt it is plagued with 10000 problems of its own. the poverty in its rural areas, the corruption, the backward social graces, the exploding population, the rebuilding of its inner cities and areas hit by disasters, the unrest in western china.

somehow i wish the UN would be the answer. a neutral organization where every country is represented, where everyone pools its resources to help one another. where everyone chips in to help an afflicted country. an organization empowered by every citizen of this world to look after them. like an international government. if we can have the olympics, the world bank, the european union, the hague, why can't the UN do its job?

if barack obama's rise to his clinching of the democratic presidential nomination teaches us anything, it is that any person can become who he/she wants to be, you just gotta defy all odds, exceed all expectations, and work your butt off.

if charlie wilson's war teaches us anything applicable and useful to our small lives, it is that every person is empowered to make a difference.

if i can teach you anything, it is that this difference we all make, can be as small as putting a smile on a friend's face, caring about another, loving one another in spite of our differences. while history does not have space for all of us to do something unprecedented and amazing, i know these things we do not only can change opinions, hearts, minds and lives, i know it's precious in God's sight. (: