The Road to Afghanistan - George Washington University

The Soviet government plane, returning from Havana, landed in Moscow on themorning of September 10. According to the plan, the Afghan leader was supposed to make astop for rest in Moscow and meet with Brezhnev. Late in the evening of September 10, themeeting took place in the Kremlin.However, it was not a routine protocol meeting between the leaders of two friendlycountries. Leonid Ilyich was supposed to deliver a number of unfavorable assessments ofthe situation in the DRA and directly appeal to Taraki to sort things out among hisentourage.The Afghan guest, who had recovered from the long flight and heavy feasts thatbegan in Cuba and continued on board the Soviet plane, at first expected a routinediscussion within the framework of protocol. He was not concerned by the fact that he wasthe only one invited to the meeting in the Kremlin. His retinue stayed behind. Brezhnev wasflanked at the table by Minister of Foreign Affairs Gromyko and his adviser, Alexandrov-Agentov. Both men were deliberately business-like and severe looking. Gavrilov, an adviserto the Soviet Foreign Ministry, was interpreting. After exchanging handshakes and kisses,Leonid Ilyich quickly moved to business. Reading the prepared text without pause, hemethodically named the errors committed by the Afghan revolutionaries and the problemsthat had to be immediately resolved.First Brezhnev focused on party building, the necessity of expanding the party byengaging more workers, peasants, and progressively minded intellectuals. One of theauthors of the text in Brezhnev’s brief included a passage describing a period of Russiancivil war. Leonid Ilyich diligently read: “The Central Committee of our party, led by V.I.Lenin, conducted special ‘party weeks.’ Those were mass campaigns to recruit the best501