We all know how the first Charlie Wilson's War ended. A sequel may be in the works. Once again the script is being drafted by the surviving half of the original adventurous duo, in Houston's upscale River Oaks neighborhood. I am both hopeful that the more benign Part II of the Texas strategy will succeed and a bit nervous about what new havoc the good intentions of the rich and the clueless may wreak on the benighted war-torn nation of Afghanistan, if things go awry. Joanne Herring, the Texas socialite (played by Julia Roberts in the movie) wants to revisit, from her living room, the country whose destiny she and her friend Congressman Charlie Wilson tried to reshape via a CIA funded proxy war against the erstwhile Soviet Union and the communist government of Afghanistan in the 1980s.
So goes Herring, the determined advocate for a solution in Afghanistan whose charm and Southern drawl are back in action for an old cause. She has a 500-page plan to support a coalition of nonprofit organizations for coordinated, village-by-village redevelopment that she argues is vital for peace.
Government heavyweights agree, but getting them to fund the solution — which would involve targeted investment in infrastructure and education – has been a 20-year challenge.
In the late 1980s, Herring and U.S.Rep. Charlie Wilson, D-Lufkin, pushed for spending on education and development assistance in Afghanistan after the United States ended its covert support of a guerrilla campaign against the Soviet Union. Their failure was depicted in the film when Wilson, portrayed by Oscar-winner Tom Hanks, asked his colleagues to approve funding for a school in Afghanistan. He was ignored by members of Congress, busy celebrating the success of the covert mission.
In the years that followed, the largely illiterate and underdeveloped nation fell under the influence of Muslim extremists, who eventually developed into the Taliban and took control. Development work in Afghanistan could have prevented that, Herring said.
"A tiny, little bit of money would have made such a difference," she insisted. "So many lives would have been saved."
Did her research
Herring initially backed away from the issue, choosing to focus her energy instead on her two sons and two grandsons.
"I was so worn out by Afghanistan that I almost never wanted to see it again," she said.
But a conversation three years ago with Caroline Firestone, the widow of the late rubber heir Leonard Firestone, changed her mind. Firestone was active in providing assistance in Afghanistan through a Kabul hospital. She told Herring stories of Afghan children being sold by their parents. Some children, Firestone claimed, were being used to supply organs for transplant.
Herring began researching out of her River Oaks condominium…..
"There was never any real showable progress because everybody was fragmented around doing all the same jobs," she said. "But each (group) had a specific job, so I got the best ones to do their specific jobs, then wanted to go out and raise money for them."
Obstacles to progress
Herring tried to tap into the United States' current funding stream for aid to Afghanistan, through the U.S. Agency for International Development, but ran into obstacles, then found that it would only support portions of her plan. So she declined the money and began to discover flaws with the agency's spending, which has produced little or no measurable progress in Afghanistan after at least $11.5 billion directed there since 2002, according to federal audits.
Herring and her supporters argue that USAID is flawed and that government money could instead flow directly to aid groups from the Department of Defense as part of its mission to win over hearts and minds in the country.
"There's going to be spending in Afghanistan, and we want to do it because we can do it for less than anybody," Herring said of her nonprofit coalition.
She has a new partner – a new "Charlie," she says, referring to the late congressman – to help lead the effort past Washington's reservations: Greg Mortenson, known for his success with building schools in the volatile border region of Pakistan and Afghanistan, plans to help direct Herring's group of nonprofits. Mortenson has advised President Barack Obama and Gen. David Petraeus, the commander of American and NATO forces in Afghanistan, on working with locals in the region. His pioneering aid efforts were documented in the book Three Cups of Tea.
Okay, so far, so good. But I do hope that Ms Herring is planning to line up a dedicated cadre of volunteers like Greg Mortenson who will venture into Afghanistan to put the war ravaged pieces of its society and infra structure together for a happy ending to the adventure that began 3 decades ago. Mortenson is a driven man who personally oversees every step of his mission in the remote regions of northern Pakistan. Does Herring at the age of 81 plan to be as hands on in her good will efforts? Or will the funds be diverted to local Afghan officials whose corruption is world renown? Although there are no arms involved in the new scheme, could the Taliban and Al Qaida in fact lay their hands on the money meant for the NGOs and use it for buying arms in an already lethally armed region? Is it physically possible for Mortenson to take on another arduous task of building hospitals and schools in another poverty stricken, undeveloped and dangerous part of the world?
The questions I ask should be answered seriously by Herring and her supporters. The language of the news story in the Houston Chronicle describing Herring and her mission is sprinkled with journalistic babble that makes her look like a lightweight socialite dilettante with overarching ambitions and little gravitas. Here are some examples describing Ms Herrring's traits and mannerisms:
- whose charm and Southern drawl are back in action for an old cause
- with an energy and passion that defy her age
- tossing her head in laughter and coaxing them with her resonant voice
- commanding attention as her petite frame glides into rooms
- when she sashayed her way into his [the Joint Chief of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen] heavily guarded vehicle
Either this is not serious reporting or Herring, even when she is sincere, comes across as non-serious – the price of being rich, privileged, a southern belle and a past failure in an earlier political mission. But we don't know what is in her heart and what she may be able to accomplish this time around. She lays out her objective as follows.
"Nation-building is what I'm talking about," Herring said. "We have to rebuild their strength and then we can leave." That is something that didn't happen in the past, Herring said, after the Afghans fought off the Soviets.
"We just abandoned them."
Nation-building, again? The lofty scheme always sends a slight shudder down my spine. Best of luck. I really hope that Herring succeeds. If I had the opportunity to offer a few words of caution, I would add some more cliches to the already cliche-ridden story:
- this time, please put the physicians' oath to "do no harm" above the political motto of "win at any cost"
- "the path to hell is (often) paved with good intentions".
- "Afghanistan has been called the graveyard of conquerors and nation builders for centuries."
- "country club meetings with ex-dicators and former power brokers may look impressive on paper but they probably have no clout with the real players."
…and so on. However, although the political situation in Afghanistan has become a dangerous cliche due to the decades long Game of Chicken being played there by rapidly changing groups of adversaries and collaborators, the economic, physical, psychological and human rights conditions of ordinary Afghans is a real tragedy that no cliche can adequately describe. The Afghan malady needs a far more effective prescription that drone attacks from the sky and Three Cups of Tea on the ground.
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