The Road to Afghanistan - George Washington University

them.“Finally, here is the most important argument. What I am going to tell you now willmost probably be misunderstood by you. You are an atheist. Lenin is your god. Any religionseems reactionary to you. I don’t want to argue about it. But it is a fact that all our citizens,with very few exceptions, are deeply religious. Deep respect for Islam is inculcated in usfrom birth. Even many party members secretly pray. I know it. Do you know what ComradeTaraki is saying? That in three years our mosques will be empty. Such marginalizing andsometimes openly hostile attitudes toward religion make this government absolutelyunacceptable for the majority of Afghans. Most probably, it is not a secret for you thatyou—the Soviets and our leaders in Kabul—are called kafir (‘infidel’) behind your backs.And it is not as harmless as it may seem. The next step will be a proclamation of jihad, holywar, against you all. Neither Amin nor Taraki will be able to withstand jihad.”“Even if the Soviet Union will supply weapons, ammunition, and expert advisersmore actively?” asked Zaplatin.“Of course,” responded the major with great conviction. “Even if you undertake amilitary intervention. One cannot defeat the Afghans. One can either kill them or…make adeal with them. And when making deals with them, one should pay them well.”The conversation was winding down. Zaplatin thought that it made no sense tocontinue talking, because his arguments were obviously weaker than the Pashtun’s. For thefirst time in his life, Zaplatin talked to a man who was not ingratiating himself, who did notact as if each word from Zaplatin about the class struggle was a revelation. Despite theirdifference in age and rank, they were speaking as equals. The major did not shakeZaplatin’s ideological beliefs or convictions about the righteousness of his goals. But the476