The Road to Afghanistan - George Washington University

Giscard d’Estaing’s visit in March would be under threat. And what would we gain? We alsoneed to bear in mind that we cannot justify military intervention from the point of view ofinternational law. According to the UN Charter, any country can ask us for militaryassistance, and we may provide such assistance, but,” Gromyko raised his finger withauthority, “only in the case that the request is initiated by a country that is subject toforeign aggression. Afghanistan was not subjected to any aggression. These are theirdomestic affairs.”It was surprising that not twenty-four hours had elapsed since Andrei Andreyevichhad, in this very Politburo meeting room, tried to convince his colleagues no less certainlythat “under no circumstances can we lose Afghanistan.” Now, he appealed for them to turntheir backs on the Afghans in pursuit of more significant gains. Gromyko was known for hisability to change his position depending on the circumstances of the situation. He was alsoknown to sometimes convincingly defend a position that directly opposed his previous one.So, what had prompted the change? What happened during the past night? Kirilenko, whowas confused by Andropov and Gromyko’s interventions, attempted to join in the new tune.He began: “The situation in Afghanistan seems to have shifted for the better. Accordingly,our discussion of it is evolving differently. All of us agree that there is no basis for militaryintervention.”Ustinov demonstratively grimaced when he heard this. The KGB chairman movedunceremoniously to correct the secretary of the Central Committee.“The situation in Afghanistan has not become any better. By now it is not onedetachment that has switched sides, but an entire division. As we’ve seen from today’sconversation between Alexei Nikolayevich and Taraki, the Afghan people do not support371