Former U.S. Congressman Charlie Wilson Dies at 76

Former Texas U.S. Congressman Charlie Wilson, the central figure behind the 2007 film Charlie Wilson’s War starring Tom Hanks, has died at the age of 76.

Wilson had been attending meeting in Lufkin, Texas when he began having breathing difficulties. He was rushed to a local hospital but was pronounced dead on arrival, doctors declaring his death to be the result of “cardiopulmonary arrest.”

Wilson served from 1973 to 1996 in the House of Representative, a stretch of 12 terms, but it was his efforts during “Operation Cyclone” that immortalized him. That CIA-covert operation focused on arming the Afghan mujahideen during the Soviet occupation in Afghanistan in the 1980s. That operation’s success led to the Soviet’s retreat and was a precursor to the end of the Cold War.

While Wilson was credited with dealing a death blow to the Soviet empire there are still many who blame his efforts in Afghanistan for giving birth to the terrorism of today. Those people have argued that arming the Afghans to defeat the Soviets simply replaced a bad ideology with one that is worse.

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