The Road to Afghanistan - George Washington University

approached the bus. The Soviet “specialists” generously treated him to cigarettes andinvited him to visit them in the Soviet Union. Kurilov saw that the Afghan lieutenant washappy to receive the cigarettes, but wasn’t distracted to the point of forgetting the order ofhis own security service, which he could not dare ignore. Kurilov watched as the Afghanapproached the back of the truck and began to open the cover in order to visually inspectthe cargo.“Alexander Ivanovich!” Valery anxiously whispered to Dolmatov. Dolmatov signaledback that he was aware of the threat.The interpreter quickly hopped out of the truck to convince the Afghan lieutenant thatthe cargo was simply some equipment that was returning with the specialists to the SovietUnion. The officer continued to silently untie the ropes of the cover. Once they were untiedhe lifted the edge of the canvas, hoisted himself up onto the back of the truck, and beganpeering into the dark cargo hold.Dolmatov, after signaling for everyone to remain where they were, immediatelypressed his heavy boot against the Afghan’s probing hand. The Afghan opened his mouth inshock, looked up, and saw the dark pupil of a submachine barrel trained directly on him,with more barrels targeting him peeking out from the darkness.Keeping a steady application of pressure on the Afghan’s hand, Dolmatov raised hisfinger to his lips. The gesture was clear: if you value your life, remain silent. The Afghanofficer looked back. Just behind him, and very menacingly, stood the “specialists” who hadtreated him to cigarettes a minute ago. He sensed that they were prepared to strangle himwithout hesitation. Doomed, he nodded to Dolmatov as if promising not to utter a sound.Then the Afghan lieutenant ordered his soldiers to raise the gate of the checkpoint579