The former U.S. lawmaker who led the Congress into supporting Afghan mujahedeen in their fight against Soviet troops in the 1980s died from a heart attack at the age of 76, a Texan hospital said.
Charles Wilson, the 12-term Democratic member of the House of Representatives from Texas, played a key role in financing Operation Cyclone, the largest-ever CIA covert operation, which supplied advanced military equipment, such as Stinger portable anti-aircraft missiles, to the Afghan "freedom fighters."
U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said in a statement on Wednesday that Wilson was "an extraordinary patriot whose life showed, once more, that one brave and determined person can alter the course of history."
However, Wilson has also gained notoriety for his reputation as a hard-drinking womanizer, who used to select pretty young women for his congressional office.
He even became a subject of an investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice for alleged drug abuse but the claims against him have never been proven.
Wilson's life story was portrayed in a "Charlie Wilson's War," a 2003 book written by author George Crile, and a Hollywood movie under the same title starring Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts.
WASHINGTON, February 11 (RIA Novosti)
