Probably a bit of both. It's written by Aaron Sorkin (West Wing), who's an aggressively lberal Democrat. I should imagine his postion on Afghanistan is one of pride in undermining the Soviets and shame that they failed to foresee and forestall the Taliban.
Politics aside, was it good?
It certainly entertained and informed me, so on those counts it was good. I find Tom Hanks rather annoying but he was good enough as Charlie Wilson that I was able to put up with him for the duration of the film. On the other hand Philip Seymour Hoffman and Amy Adams were great.
There's a clear pride in the undermining of the Soviets throughout the film, to the extent that a montage plays out showing the number of Russian tanks/aircraft shot down in different time periods. Rather distasteful I thought. In addition to this there are a few dubious stereotypes - one particular scene features a set of Russian pilots discussing sex shortly before getting blown up. This seemed completely needless and out of place. The Afghans featured in the film were not given subtitles, but merely jumped around making happy noises when they shot down a Russian plane. This is a decision I found odd and maybe more betraying of the writer/directors politics than the rest of the content of the movie!
Its given me lots of little things to think about over the last few days though so I would recommend it for a watch.
Walk Hard also kept me amused at the weekend. Its more Hot Shots than Spinal Tap, but not as crass as Scary Movie. A fair few people walked out though!