The Road to Afghanistan - George Washington University

ambassador. He, on the one hand, cannot make peace with the isolation in which he now findshimself. On the other hand, he can’t support the Parchamis who demand his immediate action tooverthrow Taraki. Naturally, he will not agree to serve as an ambassador to capitalist countrieslike America and the Federal Republic of Germany, and nobody will appoint him as ambassador tothe USSR.”“How do you know that Parchamis are plotting to overthrow Taraki?”“I know this from Assadullah Sarwari, the head of Afghanistan’s State Security Service. He isa former pilot and my close friend. Do you know him?”“No, I don’t—however, I’ve heard of his cruelty, and how he tortures and kills people in theAGSA prison * .”“Believe me, Comrade Sarwari is a very honest man and a real revolutionary. If he shot ortortured anybody, it must have been required for the success of the revolution. Every dayComrade Amin sends many people with murky intentions to Comrade Sarwari. Most of them areWestern spies, reactionaries, terrorists. Remember what Lenin used to say: “the revolution thatcannot defend itself is a failed revolution.” If you and I were in Sarwari’s position, we would do thesame—perhaps we would be even more cruel.”“So, Sarwari is aware of what’s going on around Karmal?”“What do you think? Sarwari is the one who sends ‘fake’ Parchamis to Karmal.” “Do you know those people?”“Certainly not. Why would Sarwari name them, even to me, his friend? I certainly wouldn’tfeel comfortable asking him about it. If you need to know, ask your adviser, who came from theKGB to assist Comrade Sarwari. He can ask Sarwari.”* AGSA is the main directorate in the defense interests of Afghanistan, analogous to the Soviet KGB.176