The Road to Afghanistan - George Washington University
The Road to Afghanistan - George Washington University The Road to Afghanistan - George Washington University
factions. The document mentioned that many prominent Khalqis had been killed, removedfrom party work, or expelled from the army and state organs. Many found themselvesabroad as political emigrants.The document placed major emphasis on the theme of crackdowns and abuse ofpower: “Many commanders, seeing that their colleagues are arrested and disappear, lackconfidence and fear their own arrests. This was proven by the events of Herat, where notonly a considerable part of the population but also some army detachments defected to theside of the rebels, per the initiative of their commanders.”The authors of the document stated with disappointment that they had broughtcases of abuse of power and evidence of mistakes and excesses to the attention of DRAleaders more than once. However, they found that the Afghan leaders “demonstratedinsufficient political flexibility and lack of experience and were not prepared to take thisadvice into consideration.”This was followed by the most important part of the document, which dealt with theAfghan leaders’ request for Soviet military intervention: “Our decision not to send Sovietmilitary detachments to Herat was absolutely correct. This line of thinking should bemaintained in case of new anti-government actions in Afghanistan, the possibility of whichcannot be excluded in the foreseeable future.”The following immediate measures to stabilize the domestic situation in the DRAwere proposed:• To raise the military capability of the Afghan army and theeffectiveness of its security organs, and to increase additional supplies ofweapons and equipment.414
• Issues related to economic assistance to Afghanistan, “particularlythose that would assist in strengthening the position of the revolutionarydemocratic regime, should be resolved quickly.”• The political base of the revolutionary regime should be expanded:“The leaders of the DRA should be encouraged to consider the importance ofcontinuing to realize the planned social and economic transformations,including land reform. They should work thoughtfully, without abusing theirauthority or making rash decisions…Peasants should realize that theyreceived land precisely due to the April Revolution, and if they do not defendthe revolutionary power, they face the loss of their land.”• The unity of leadership and regular party members should bestrengthened, along with an increase in their numbers.• Work should be conducted among the Muslim clergy “in order todivide and undermine the influence of reactionary Muslim leaders among themasses.”• Maintaining a certain legal order that is based on a revolutionarylaw framework is necessary, as well as a more balanced approach to applyingpunitive measures.• Measures should be taken against interference in the domesticaffairs of Afghanistan by other countries.This document was discussed during the Politburo meeting of April 12. Its contentswere taken into consideration.But Afghan leaders, ignoring common sense, continued to bombard the Kremlin415
- Page 364 and 365: mistakes that they have made. Even
- Page 366 and 367: It was a brilliant ploy. Everybody
- Page 368 and 369: necessary to justify possible milit
- Page 370 and 371: Unexpectedly, Andropov moved to sup
- Page 372 and 373: this government. But can our troops
- Page 374 and 375: military divisions had been deploye
- Page 376 and 377: e illiterate his whole life, and to
- Page 378 and 379: economic reforms as the solutions.
- Page 380 and 381: conversation. “I would like to in
- Page 382 and 383: look of satisfaction. He motioned,
- Page 384 and 385: in connection with the additional m
- Page 386 and 387: ased on the Bolshevik experience. F
- Page 388 and 389: would flee to Pakistan after the de
- Page 390 and 391: General Staff for his ruthless exec
- Page 392 and 393: crucial decisions in complex situat
- Page 394 and 395: and respectful when he met with the
- Page 396 and 397: eason Ivanov did not fall prey to s
- Page 398 and 399: Morozov, Khotyaev, and Starostin to
- Page 400 and 401: Marxist-Leninist theory at the time
- Page 402 and 403: violating their sacred duty.”Osad
- Page 404 and 405: community, and the sinfulness of se
- Page 406 and 407: “Unfortunately, this is not alway
- Page 408 and 409: attempting to build socialism in su
- Page 410 and 411: “In an attempt to halt anti-gover
- Page 412 and 413: 5. Confidential contacts with S. A.
- Page 416 and 417: with their requests for direct invo
- Page 418 and 419: armed opposition.Further into his m
- Page 420 and 421: esidencies. Halbaiev, the commander
- Page 422 and 423: discussed, Comrade Amin appeared to
- Page 424 and 425: authority. They figured that the mo
- Page 426 and 427: the stage of advanced capitalism on
- Page 428 and 429: Safronchuk.Amin pretended to be ast
- Page 430 and 431: danger to him. However, it is possi
- Page 432 and 433: example, what was the purpose of Am
- Page 434 and 435: “This is what happened,” began
- Page 436 and 437: Ivanov hesitated. There was a silen
- Page 438 and 439: special typewriter. He also had to
- Page 440 and 441: influence. This topic was last disc
- Page 442 and 443: paratroopers, disguised in aviation
- Page 444 and 445: consequences of the confrontation b
- Page 446 and 447: the organizational talents of Hafiz
- Page 448 and 449: Persian Gulf.Détente was coming to
- Page 450 and 451: duration of the war in Afghanistan.
- Page 452 and 453: eported and objectively interpreted
- Page 454 and 455: countries, including Iran, Pakistan
- Page 456 and 457: officers took a seven-month-long co
- Page 458 and 459: Glotov and Alexander Dolmatov were
- Page 460 and 461: You will be assisting me in special
- Page 462 and 463: was surprised to find out that not
factions. <strong>The</strong> document mentioned that many prominent Khalqis had been killed, removedfrom party work, or expelled from the army and state organs. Many found themselvesabroad as political emigrants.<strong>The</strong> document placed major emphasis on the theme of crackdowns and abuse ofpower: “Many commanders, seeing that their colleagues are arrested and disappear, lackconfidence and fear their own arrests. This was proven by the events of Herat, where no<strong>to</strong>nly a considerable part of the population but also some army detachments defected <strong>to</strong> theside of the rebels, per the initiative of their commanders.”<strong>The</strong> authors of the document stated with disappointment that they had broughtcases of abuse of power and evidence of mistakes and excesses <strong>to</strong> the attention of DRAleaders more than once. However, they found that the Afghan leaders “demonstratedinsufficient political flexibility and lack of experience and were not prepared <strong>to</strong> take thisadvice in<strong>to</strong> consideration.”This was followed by the most important part of the document, which dealt with theAfghan leaders’ request for Soviet military intervention: “Our decision not <strong>to</strong> send Sovietmilitary detachments <strong>to</strong> Herat was absolutely correct. This line of thinking should bemaintained in case of new anti-government actions in <strong>Afghanistan</strong>, the possibility of whichcannot be excluded in the foreseeable future.”<strong>The</strong> following immediate measures <strong>to</strong> stabilize the domestic situation in the DRAwere proposed:• To raise the military capability of the Afghan army and theeffectiveness of its security organs, and <strong>to</strong> increase additional supplies ofweapons and equipment.414