Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Senator Wilson, Architect of the Afghan War is Dead, RIP


[Telegraph] Charlie Wilson, the Texan Democrat who championed covert CIA support for Afghan fighters battling Soviet troops in the 1980s and whose life was chronicled in a Hollywood film, has died. He was 76.

The controversial former congressman, known as “Good-time Charlie” for his hard-partying ways, died of a heart attack in a Texas hospital late yesterday. Mr Wilson died after having difficulty breathing after attending a meeting in the eastern Texas town where he lived, according to a hospital spokeswoman. He was pronounced dead on arrival, and the preliminary cause of death was cardiopulmonary arrest.

Mr Wilson served 12 consecutive terms in the House of Representatives, and was also known as the "Liberal from Lufkin," the town in mostly conservative east Texas where he lived.

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Photo: Marcy Nighswander/AP

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