Charlie Wilson's War Page #6

I was only 13, but I

had a farmer's license

and I filled up my car with black voters

and drove them to the polling place

and then waited, then

drove them on home.

But before they got

out of the car to vote

I said, "I don't mean to influence

you, but I think you should know

"Mr. Charles Hazard has

intentionally killed my dog. "

About 400 ballots were

cast in that election.

I drove 96 of them to the polls.

Hazard lost by 16 votes.

And that's the day I fell

in love with America.

What time do we land?

7:
30 a. m. In D.C.

I want the CIA in my office at 10:00.

Assistant Deputy Director or higher.

Tell them that if I don't

see someone at 10:00,

I'm gonna start docking their allowance

at a rate of $1 million a minute.

Yes, sir.

And get me another one

of them, would you?

Yes, sir.

The AKs, RPG-7 grenade launchers

and 82 millimeter mortars are coming

into Pakistan by air and sea,

and then trucks take them

to the Afghan border.

Then we take them across on mules,

which are running a little

more than we thought.

- The mules?

- They're 2,400 a piece,

- plus we got to get them checked out.

- For what?

Diseases. Foot and mouth. Plus they

have to have their ears cleaned.

The mules are getting better

health care than the Afghans.

Plus, they're gonna cost a little

extra if we want them pre-trained.

- To do what?

- Walk over a mountain

with ammunition on their back.

Aren't they born with that instinct?

I mean, isn't that something

they want to do naturally?

You think Afghanistan might, one day,

think about building some f***ing roads?

- Gust.

- Yeah?

I got something for you.

I need you to be specific...

The whole thing has changed.

Get your diary. I'll show you.

Okay.

- No problem.

- Thank you.

He should be here any moment.

Don't worry about me.

I'm fine.

- Good morning.

- Good morning, Congressman.

- Welcome back.

- Yeah. Marla.

- Welcome back.

- Suzanne.

Welcome back.

Who are you?

This is Gust Avrakotos.

He's come up from Langley to

bring you the information

- that you wanted.

- Bonnie!

Yes, sir?

I said Assistant Deputy

Director or higher.

- I know, sir. I called...

- No, Assistant Deputies don't come

to the Hill without a subpoena.

I'm the guy you want to talk to,

Congressman. I'm on the Afghan desk.

- You're on the Afghan desk?

- Yeah.

Well, I wouldn't be too proud of

that. I just got back from there.

Oh, I know.

And that's a hell of a flight, too.

That nine hours flying time

against the jet stream.

Probably had to stop in Brussels,

plus the time difference.

I'd be a little grumpy myself.

I ain't grumpy because of the plane.

We want to give you this 'cause

we know you like single malt.

It's called Talisker,

and it's mentioned in a

Robert Louis Stevenson poem,

The Scotsman's Return from Abroad.

"The king o' drinks, as I conceive it,

"Talisker, Isla or Glenlivet!"

- Who are you again?

- Gust Avrakotos.

Have Bonnie come into this meeting.

Yes, sir.

What's the gift for?

It's from the Afghan desk for doubling

the budget for the mujahideen.

Oh. Well, thank you.

It was nothing.

Well, it's a nice bottle of Scotch.

Must've been hard to get.

No, doubling the budget was nothing.

I mean, $10 million for covert ops

against the Russian Army is meaningless.

- What are you, an infant?

- Now, you hang on just one second.

I don't remember your name.

Gust Avrakotos.

Gust Avrakotos.

Yeah.

Okay, you mind if I call you Gus?

Yeah, well, my name's Gust

with a "t," but I don't care.

Fifteen hours ago, I offered Harold

Holt the keys to the safe, okay?

I stood there in the

office in Islamabad,

and I said, "How much do you need?"

And I was apparently annoying him.

Well, Harold Holt's a massive tool,

Congressman. He's a cake-eater.

He's a clown.

He's a bad station chief.

And I don't mean to cast aspersions on

a guy, but he's gonna get us all killed.

- Really?

- Yeah.

Well, how does he expect to defeat

the Soviets in Afghanistan without...

He said, "A sudden influx of money... "

Yeah, an influx of money

and new weaponry would draw attention.

He's not trying to defeat

the Soviets, Congressman.

What the hell are you talking about?

Excuse me.

I'm the Congressman's aide, Bonnie Bach.

Gust Avrakotos.

Gus, I need the room for a second.

- Sure.

- Jailbait!

Whoa, whoa. Hey, hey.

Whoa, all right.

Just tell me what's happening.

A Justice Department task

force that was formed last year

to investigate reports of sex

between members of the House

and their male interns

has recently widened

to include the use of recreational drugs

by senators and congressmen.

Do you know a man named Paul Brown?

- He doesn't have to answer that.

- Keep going.

Oh, sh*t.

Paul Brown, under investigation

by federal prosecutors for fraud.

He wanted me to invest in

some TV show for Crystal.

Well, he's saying he witnessed

you doing cocaine nine times

in a fantasy suite in Las Vegas.

Brian Ross at NBC is breaking the story.

All right, guys. I was in Las

Vegas with Crystal and Paul Brown,

because she wanted me to talk

to him about this thing.

There was cocaine?

I want you to go in the other

room and start on a statement.

- Let's get Stu on the phone.

- Okay, I'll call him.

Okay, Bait, you just need to start...

It's all right, everybody.

It's gonna be all right.

I want to get back to...

Gus!

You having problems?

No.

What do you mean, he's not

trying to defeat the Soviets?

Well, he wants to bleed

them. Payback for Vietnam.

Make it so they just have

to keep sending troops in,

keep sending money,

and troops, and money

until they just go out of their

f***ing minds the way we did.

You mean to tell me that the

U.S. Strategy in Afghanistan

is to have the Afghans keep

walking into machine gun fire

till the Russians run out of bullets?

That's Harold Holt's strategy.

- It's not U.S. Strategy.

- What is U.S. Strategy?

Well, strictly speaking,

we don't have one.

But we're working hard on that.

- Who's we?

- Me and three other guys.

Would you excuse me?

All right, what do you have?

"Representative Charles

Wilson has learned...

he is joining several

members of Congress

"who are under investigation by a

Justice Department

task force that is... "

Don't say task force. It makes it sound

- like Eliot Ness is running the thing.

- Okay.

Who is running the thing?

Who's the prosecutor?

Rudolph Giuliani, New

York, Southern District.

You know him?

No.

Well, it's been going on forever.

We should say that, too.

"Representative Charles

Wilson has learned...

he is joining several

members of Congress

"who are under investigation

by the Justice Department

"in what is now an 18-month

long, wide-ranging examination

"that has resulted in no convictions. "

"Congressman Wilson has not

been charged with any crime,

"nor has he been questioned

by the authorities.

"He denies any allegation of

illegal or improper behavior

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