The Road to Afghanistan - George Washington University

him in jail for his covert activities in the armed forces. His wife and child died of starvation. Peoplelike Iqbal represent the very best of our party.”Zaplatin liked that Iqbal had difficulties interpreting Amin’s last words. He blushed, gotconfused, and began to stutter before he fell silent.Amin ordered him to continue interpretation: “We have no secrets from our Soviet friends.They must know who is truly a hero and who is merely pretending to be one. We’ve selectedcadres for political work in the army. Please meet with them individually and then share youropinion of them. I ask you to be honest. If you don’t like somebody, tell me that, so we can takeyour evaluation into consideration.”Amin told the guest about himself—that he had studied in the States and that he spokeEnglish very well. He also touched upon the situation in the party: “The party ranks are growing instrength and number. The party is becoming a serious political force.”They agreed to meet weekly. “But if you have questions that require immediate attention,come to me at any time,” said Amin.After the meeting, Iqbal drove Zaplatin to meet with Taraki. Taraki turned out to be verydifferent from Amin. The general secretary made an impression of a very soft-spoken, smilinggrandfather, very different from Amin’s intense personality. It seemed that he was not in anyhurry and was prepared to discuss any topic with his guest, including weather in Kabul and therole of political officers in the Soviet armed forces. As to the working instructions, Taraki’s tasksfor Zaplatin were similar to Amin’s: to create a political branch in the Afghan army according tothe Soviet model, because the army was designated to provide the main support of the newregime.Zaplatin dedicated the next few days to meetings with selected officers. There were roughly161