The Road to Afghanistan - George Washington University

The Road to Afghanistan - George Washington University The Road to Afghanistan - George Washington University

13.07.2015 Views

Safronchuk.Amin pretended to be astonished. He glanced at Puzanov, who remained stonefaced.Then he stared at Taraki as if inviting him to join in.“You don’t know the explanations? But everybody knows. Comrade Puzanovknows.” The ambassador readily nodded in response. “And Comrade Taraki knows. All ourproblems are imported from abroad. Pakistan and Iran will never make peace with the factthat we chose the path of freedom. And in addition there are the United States, SaudiArabia, China, Israel—my list is long.”“We thank you and the comrades from the Central Committee of your party for therecommendations,” said Taraki to signal that it was time to wrap up the meeting. “Pleasetell them that we continue to value the assistance of the Soviet Union very highly and thatwe will welcome any advice from our elder brothers with gratitude.”The National Organization for Defense of the Revolution was established in July,instead of the National Front. The purpose of the new organization was to unite the tradeunions (which were still non-existent), peasant committees (which had just begun to beorganized), youth and women’s organizations (which had just been conceived), artisticunions, and other organizations. The purely formal gesture of announcing the neworganization was presented to Moscow as “another important step towards the unificationof all democratic and progressive forces.”In reality, Amin continued to succeed in bureaucratic intrigues and the formation ofa government apparatus confined to those who were personally loyal to him. Daily, hespent a lot of time and energy on these sorts of activities. In May, just after Safronchuk hadbegun his work, the minister introduced his new deputy to him. “This is my nephew,428

Asadullah,” said Amin without a hint of embarrassment. “Although he is young, he is veryexperienced in the revolutionary struggle. He is a reliable and trustworthy comrade.”As it became clear later, Asadullah didn’t have any particular experience relevant torevolutionary struggle. However, he was fanatically loyal to his uncle. Having recentlygraduated from medical school, he didn’t know any foreign languages, had no practicalbureaucratic experience, and was far removed from international affairs. “You will be theone who turns him into a major specialist,” Amin said to Safronchuk. “Help him with thelanguage and introduce him to the field. He is a capable young man, and can potentiallybecome a minister.” That led Safronchuk to suspect that he had been chosen by Amin toserve as a mentor of Amin’s nephew in Kabul.Amin openly disliked his deputy, Shah Mohammad Dost, whom he considered to bepolitically unreliable. He suspected that Dost belonged to the Parcham faction and scoldedhim for his unnecessary liberalism and misunderstanding of the essence of the AprilRevolution. Dost, a professional diplomat with over twenty years of experience in theMinistry of Foreign Affairs, received the unfair accusations patiently. He never complainedto Safronchuk, and continued to carry out management of all routine activities of theForeign Ministry. When Amin once mentioned in passing that he was going to fire Dostfrom the ministry, Safronchuk jokingly responded, “Then the Foreign Ministry should beclosed, because nobody will remain there to do the work.”In July, Hafizullah Amin removed himself from the position of minister of foreignaffairs to focus exclusively on his responsibilities as the head of the government. Anotherprominent Khalq member, Shah Wali, became the new foreign minister. Shah Walimaintained distance from Safronchuk and acted as if the Soviet diplomat represented a429

Safronchuk.Amin pretended <strong>to</strong> be as<strong>to</strong>nished. He glanced at Puzanov, who remained s<strong>to</strong>nefaced.<strong>The</strong>n he stared at Taraki as if inviting him <strong>to</strong> join in.“You don’t know the explanations? But everybody knows. Comrade Puzanovknows.” <strong>The</strong> ambassador readily nodded in response. “And Comrade Taraki knows. All ourproblems are imported from abroad. Pakistan and Iran will never make peace with the factthat we chose the path of freedom. And in addition there are the United States, SaudiArabia, China, Israel—my list is long.”“We thank you and the comrades from the Central Committee of your party for therecommendations,” said Taraki <strong>to</strong> signal that it was time <strong>to</strong> wrap up the meeting. “Pleasetell them that we continue <strong>to</strong> value the assistance of the Soviet Union very highly and thatwe will welcome any advice from our elder brothers with gratitude.”<strong>The</strong> National Organization for Defense of the Revolution was established in July,instead of the National Front. <strong>The</strong> purpose of the new organization was <strong>to</strong> unite the tradeunions (which were still non-existent), peasant committees (which had just begun <strong>to</strong> beorganized), youth and women’s organizations (which had just been conceived), artisticunions, and other organizations. <strong>The</strong> purely formal gesture of announcing the neworganization was presented <strong>to</strong> Moscow as “another important step <strong>to</strong>wards the unificationof all democratic and progressive forces.”In reality, Amin continued <strong>to</strong> succeed in bureaucratic intrigues and the formation ofa government apparatus confined <strong>to</strong> those who were personally loyal <strong>to</strong> him. Daily, hespent a lot of time and energy on these sorts of activities. In May, just after Safronchuk hadbegun his work, the minister introduced his new deputy <strong>to</strong> him. “This is my nephew,428

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