Feds on Film: 'Charlie Wilson's War'
When Charlie Wilson’s War comes out Friday, federal employees should keep an eye out for one of their own. The movie features Tom Hanks as a hard-living Congressman who helped arm the Taliban to fight the Soviets in Afghanistan, Julia Roberts going blonde to play the Texas socialite who introduced him to the cause, and Philip Seymour Hoffman sporting a truly dreadful moustache as a CIA official. But the film also includes the character of Mike Vickers, who helped ship weapons to Afghanistan as a young CIA operative. And he's still working in government as assistant secretary of defense for special operations and low-intensity conflict, according to the Associated Press, after stints in the private sector and think tank worlds.
Vickers says his wife "told me that if there were any sex scenes in the movie with a character named Mike Vickers, I'd be dead meat." --Alyssa Rosenberg
Hat tip: FedSmith.
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Government Executive Staff Correspondent Alyssa Rosenberg takes a look at news affecting the management and operations of the massive federal bureaucracy.
Hollywood should check its time line. The Taliban did not exist until after the Soviets left. Pakistan supported then as a reward for freeing a commercial convoy from bandits.
Wise Old Owl Posted Tuesday, December 18, 2007 8:24 AMThe blog entry makes it sound like this was a good idea - we once again managed to engage in a proxy war, funding a group of "friends" who have now come back to bite us - costing lives and treasure fighting those same Taliban in Afghanistan. A real success story.
Doubting Thomas Posted Tuesday, December 18, 2007 9:01 AMI'll bet Osama Bin Laden's name is not mentioned in the movie even though he was one of our Taliban "Friends" that Charlie Wilson helped arm and fund..and whose dad was a billionaire.
Bloggin' Barry Posted Tuesday, December 18, 2007 10:02 AMThe film and comments above dramatize the difficulty of making alliances in the Mideast, where yesterday's friend is today's enemy, and today's friend is tomorrow's enemy. Best to find a way to energy independence and let the whole pack of deceitful liars keep killing themselves.
Advocator Posted Wednesday, December 19, 2007 10:00 AM