The Road to Afghanistan - George Washington University

Afghan school teacher, Valery decided not to wear a tie. Then he headed to the Sovietembassy.As soon as Osadchiy found out about Gulabzoi’s morning call, he dragged Valery toIvanov.Boris Semyonovich issued a very clear order: tell the disgraced ministers thatAmbassador Puzanov, he, Ivanov, and other senior Soviet comrades would pursue veryserious talks today with Taraki and Amin regarding the restoration of unity within theAfghan leadership. He asked the ministers to understand that the success of thesehistorically important talks would, to a large degree, depend on their common sense. Thegeneral was particularly insistent that Valery “directly state” that the ministers were notwelcome at the Soviet embassy again, “regardless of the circumstances.”“So we are turning in these rebellious Khalqists,” Starostin thought to himself on hisway to Mikrorayon. “Amin will destroy them in the near future. The talks to be led by theambassador about safeguarding unity between the generals, Taraki, and Amin have nofuture, and will surely collapse as soon as the ministers are removed. Amin is alreadyprepared for the coup. He has involved many people in the plot. He is past the point of noreturn. He will go to the end, or he will die. In the next few days, Amin will remove Tarakiand become the head of Afghanistan. The Soviet leaders will disapprove for a while, butthey’ll ultimately come around and acknowledge the new head of state. It’s a good thingthat I took the pistol with me. I will arrive at Gulabzoi’s at just about the same time asAmin’s assassins. Nobody will bother to figure out who I am. It’ll be good if they kill meright away, so I won’t suffer. I have no documents on me and I’m dressed like an Afghanschool teacher. At the embassy they’ll say that nobody is missing, and will make up a story534