The Road to Afghanistan - George Washington University

operative boss,” mused the deputy chief. “What can I do?”***When meeting with their Soviet friends, Nur Muhammad Taraki and Babrak Karmal werenormally eager to drink alcohol. However, when meeting with each other they would drink onlytea. Right after the coup, the two leaders met over tea to discuss how best to organize the May 1celebrations and capture in the media the atmosphere of overwhelming joy among the Afghans onthe occasion of victorious revolution. They were deciding what to do with the property of Daoudand the monarchal family. They agreed to organize a sale of the possessions of the former rulers ofthe country. However, the most important issue they discussed was drafting a list of the newleadership in Afghanistan. After some deliberations, such a list was put together. Both factions inthat list were represented almost evenly.There was no hesitation in regards to the appointment of Abdul Qadir as the minister ofdefense. Who else could be appointed but him? He was a hero of the uprising, a colonel, a memberof the PDPA, who voluntarily and without any complications handed the power that he hadcaptured to the party!Another hero of the revolution, Aslam Watanjar, could also be a candidate for this position.However, he didn’t aspire to become the minister of defense. He hadn’t asked for anything forhimself. So Taraki and Babrak decided to give him the position of deputy prime minister andminister of communications.And how could they not include in the government such popular figures as Suleyman Layeqand Bareq Shafi’i? They were poets, the idols of the youth. However, the problem was that therewas only one relevant ministry portfolio for the two equally deserving candidates. In the end theydecided to break it into two positions: minister of information and culture and minister of radio150