The Road to Afghanistan - George Washington University

“‘The security operatives, having received a specific threat, had to take measures tofree the ambassador before the ten minutes expired. As a result, the terrorists shot andwounded the ambassador.’ It all looks like the truth, except for the part where theterrorists ‘shot’ the ambassador. Our operatives are saying that the policemen were theonly ones shooting. However, one can understand the cause of these sorts of lies. Afghanscertainly could not write in the official report, ‘forgive us, our dear American friends. Ourguys screwed up and killed everybody, victim and captors alike.’”After Khotyaev was done with the preliminary analysis of the official report, heturned to the ambassador’s biography for a close reading.“Born in August 1920 in Illinois, USA. Graduated from college in 1942. Served in theU.S. Navy as an officer from 1942 until 1946. Began working at the U.S. State Department in1950. From 1950 until 1952, worked as a civil servant in the city of Golbach (?) in theFederal Republic of Germany. From 1952 until 1954, worked at the economic section of theU.S. embassy in Monrovia (Liberia). From 1954 until 1957, worked at the political sectionof the U.S. embassy in Ottawa (Canada). From 1958 until 1961, worked at the Departmentof International Relations at the U.S. State Department. From 1961 until 1963, headed thepolitical section of the U.S. embassy in Moscow. From 1963 until 1964, worked at a college.From 1964 until 1968, worked at the political section of the U.S. embassy in Belgrade. From1969 to 1971, headed the Department of the USSR at the U.S. State Department. From 1971until 1972, attended courses on foreign policy. From 1972 to 1974, served as a ministercounselorat the U.S. embassy in the USSR. From 1975 until 1978, served as a deputydirector of the Department of the Near East and South Asia. On July 12, 1978, was314