The Road to Afghanistan - George Washington University

“All of our leaders are waiting for the Soviet Union to help us.”Government officials, members of the Central Committee of the PDPA, andbureaucrats at the People’s Palace, which housed Taraki’s residence, were at a loss. Gorelovand Zaplatin had a difficult time bringing the leaders of the Ministry of Defense to theirsenses. They formed an operative group headed by the artillery commander, ColonelInzerghol, and launched a squadron of Il-28 bombers from the Shindand Aviation Base,located to the south of Herat. They began to form a military detachment designed to bedeployed to quell the uprising.***The rebellion in the Herat Infantry Division gave a serious scare not only to theAfghan leaders, but also to many Soviet representatives in Kabul. Their anxiety reachedMoscow and registered with members of the Politburo. For several days in a row, includingSaturday and Sunday, with a frequency unheard of during times of peace, Politburomembers met to discuss the problem. Transcripts from those meetings illustrate theintensity of the challenges facing the Kremlin leaders’ search for a solution.Chairman of the KGB Andropov arrived to see Foreign Minister Gromyko at theMinistry of Foreign Affairs on Saturday, March 17. The two spent a long time in Gromyko’soffice. They called Marshal Ustinov several times during their meeting. Andrei Andreyevichasked his assistant to call several of his deputies and heads of Middle Eastern sections towork. Then Gromyko and Andropov went to the Kremlin to attend a Politburo meeting. AsGromyko was departing, he ordered the diplomats who had been called to the ministry notto leave before his return.Of the key Politburo members, only Brezhnev, Suslov, and Chernenko did not attend358