The Road to Afghanistan - George Washington University

Thinking about Americans, Valery recalled the ambassador of the United States inAfghanistan, Theodore Eliot. He was such a nice man, thought Valery. Eliot had alwaysdisplayed a friendly attitude toward the Soviets. He organized wonderful meetings ofAmerican and Soviet diplomats. He gave great speeches about the need for Soviet-Americancooperation. However, one should remember that his tenure in Kabul coincided withdétente, the period when Soviet-American relations were at their most favorable statesince World War II. At that time, a joint space expedition took place, and the mostimportant agreements regarding nuclear disarmament were signed. Eliot and his wife hadexcellent personal relations with the Puzanovs, which played an important role as well.When Eliot worked as an adviser in Moscow at the U.S. embassy, Tatiana MikhailovaPuzanova was the section head at one of the best hospitals in Moscow. There, she helpedEliot’s wife deliver a baby. Since then, their friendship had endured.However, not everything was smooth, even during the years of détente. Valeryremembered his recent conversation with the second secretary of the American embassy,Malinovsky. The diplomat proudly declared that he was a relative of the legendary Sovietmarshal, the hero of the Great Patriotic War. When Starostin started to compliment theSoviet-American friendship and the effect that collaboration between the two superpowershad in helping such poor countries as Afghanistan, Malinovsky sharply interrupted him. “Iwould sooner believe in the existence of witches than the possibility of a Soviet-Americanfriendship. We were and always will be strategic adversaries, including here in Afghanistan.This is the reality, and anyone with common sense should learn to accept it.”It should be mentioned that during the peak of détente, Americans significantlyreduced their activity in offering economic assistance to Afghanistan. During that time, they222