Author of Charlie Wilson’s War dies of cancer
LAHORE: Charlie Wilson’s War, a best-selling book about
a rogue Central Intelligence Agency operation in
Afghanistan during the Reagan administration, was
thoroughly quoted by newspapers in Pakistan. But when
its author, George Crile III, died of pancreatic cancer
this month, barely anyone took notice.
George Crile produced several documentaries. But his
best-known work was The Uncounted Enemy: A Vietnam
Deception, a controversial film that accused the US
commander of forces in Vietnam of deliberately
distorting and minimising enemy troop strength.
The motive, he claimed, was to mislead Congress into
believing that the United States was actually winning
the war.
Crile also covered Afghan rebels in their war with the
Soviets in the 1980s. His job afforded him the
opportunity to write Charlie Wilson’s War: The
Extraordinary Story of the Largest Covert Operation in
History.
At the time of his death, he was working on a sequel to
that book.
“It’s about what happened after the Afghans threw the
Russians out and how we [the United States] went from
being heroes to being so profoundly despised,” his wife
told The Washington Post.
Crile died on May 15 at his home in New York City. He
was 61.