The Road to Afghanistan - George Washington University

camp. Minster-Counselor Safronchuk, who knew Amin well, would often remark on hisextraordinary business qualities.The ambassador visited the new leader almost daily in order to discuss currentissues, including writing the country’s constitution, issuing mass amnesty for criminals, anddeveloping new projects within the framework of the Soviet-Afghan cooperationagreement.Then the unexpected happened.In early October, Alexander Mikhailovich received a call from the senior militaryadviser, who asked him to meet urgently. Judging by his tone of voice, the reason for themeeting was most ominous. Puzanov invited Bogdanov to the meeting. Ivanov was away ona business trip to Moscow.Having entered the office, Gorelov immediately handed the ambassador a slimbrochure written in Dari. Judging by the smell of ink, the brochure was fresh off the press.It had been printed in the publishing house of the Political Directorate of the Afghan armedforces, he explained. The document was titled “The Truth about Taraki’s FailedAssassination Attempt on Comrade Amin.”“Here, read it,” said Gorelov. “It narrates the most interesting version of events.”Puzanov immediately summoned an interpreter, who began to read the text. According tothe text, on September 14, the day that Tarun was killed and Amin miraculously avoidedassassination, it was the Soviet ambassador who, through an interpreter, called Amin tosummon him to the palace immediately and gave a guarantee for his absolute safety. Inother words, the brochure directly accused an official Soviet representative of organizingan assassination attempt on the current head of Afghanistan. Puzanov, having listened to611