Gust Avrakotos

Gust Avrakotos Lascaris (* 14. January 1938 in Aliquippa , Beaver County, Pennsylvania ; † 1. December 2005 in Washington, DC ) was an American liaison officer and department head of the Intelligence Service Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Avrakotos became known through the armament of the Afghan mujahideen during the Soviet-Afghan war in the 1980s under the name Operation Cyclone . In 2003 , George Crile wrote Charlie Wilson's War: The Extraordinary Story of the Largest Covert Operation in History about his collaboration with Texas Congressman Charlie Wilson .

Life

Gust Avrakotos was born the son of a Greek lemonade manufacturer. He graduated from Aliquippa High School in 1955 as Primus Omnium . Avrakotos attended the Carnegie Institute of Technology , but had to abandon his studies after two years due to financial problems of the family and from then on earned his living in a steel mill and by selling beer and cigarettes at taverns in western Pennsylvania. He was then able to continue his studies at the University of Pittsburgh and graduate with Summa Cum Laude .

After graduating, he joined the CIA . His duties included anti-terror missions in Greece . He also worked at the CIA headquarters in Langley , Virginia .

With Wilson he made sure to massively increase the funding of the rebels. Together, they both helped convince officials from Egypt, Pakistan, China, Israel, Saudi Arabia and other countries to step up support for the rebels. In 1985, Avrakotos saw a group within the government, including Oliver North and Bud McFarlane , attempting an Iranian arms trade with the CIA. Avrakotos also warned George that the program was illegal and wrote a noteworthy memo that was circulated within the CIA for the purpose. According to author George Crile, the bureaucracy punished Avrakoto for his dissent and then banished him to doing nothing with little responsibility. After a brief role in an African mission, he retired from the CIA in 1989.

In 1989 Avrakotos went from the CIA to the American automotive supplier TRW in Rome and later to News Corp. In 1997 he returned to the CIA as an independent contractor and stayed until 2003.

Gust Avrakatos died of a stroke in 2005 .

Others

In the film Charlie Wilson's War, directed by Mike Nichols , Avrakotos was portrayed by Oscar- winner Philip Seymour Hoffman . For this role, Hoffman was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 2008.

Individual evidence

^ Field Listing , Central Intelligence Agency
↑ George Crile: Charlie Wilson's War: The Extraordinary Story of the Largest Covert Operation in History , ISBN 0-87113-854-9 .
↑ ^a ^b Patricia Sullivan: CIA Agent Gust L. Avrakotos Dies at Age 67. In: Washington Post . December 25, 2005, accessed July 18, 2010 .
↑ Crile, George: Charlie Wilson's War: The Extraordinary Story of the Largest Covert Operation in History. New York, Atlantic Monthly Press. ISBN 0-87113-854-9 .

personal data
SURNAME	Avrakotos, Gust
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Avrakotos, Gust Lascaris
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	American liaison officer and head of division of the CIA
DATE OF BIRTH	January 14, 1938
PLACE OF BIRTH	Aliquippa , Pennsylvania
DATE OF DEATH	December 1, 2005
Place of death	Washington, DC , USA

[1] Field Listing , Central Intelligence Agency

[2] George Crile: Charlie Wilson's War: The Extraordinary Story of the Largest Covert Operation in History , ISBN 0-87113-854-9 .

[post-3] Patricia Sullivan: CIA Agent Gust L. Avrakotos Dies at Age 67. In: Washington Post . December 25, 2005, accessed July 18, 2010 .

[4] Crile, George: Charlie Wilson's War: The Extraordinary Story of the Largest Covert Operation in History. New York, Atlantic Monthly Press. ISBN 0-87113-854-9 .