The Road to Afghanistan - George Washington University

leadership of the party and the state under Amin. The Soviet military units would have nodirect role in the removal of Amin. Their arrival was exclusively designed to preserveterritorial integrity, as well as the independence and sovereignty of the DRA in the face ofexternal aggression.A draft of the following document, which had been read by Andropov, Gromyko,Ustinov, and Ponomaryov, narrated in detail the situation inside the PDPA, enumeratedAmin’s scheming and divisive activities, leanings towards the West, continuing acts ofrepression, and the rationale for Soviet military intervention in the DRA. As far asKryuchkov understood, the document was to be used inside the Soviet Union in order toclarify the rationale behind the invasion to the base level organizations of the CPSU.Then Kryuchkov quickly leafed through the draft of a proposal titled “Regarding thePropaganda Campaign to Explain and Justify our Invasion of Afghanistan,” in which all ofthe previous arguments were repeated, including drafts of “Instructions to the SovietAmbassadors in Socialist Countries,” “A Recommendation to the USSR Representative atthe United Nations,” “Letters to Members and Candidates of the Central Committee of theCPSU, Members of the Central Committees of the Union Republics, and Regional PartyCommittees,” as well as a draft of a “Congratulatory Telegram to the Chairman of theRevolutionary Council, Chairman of the Central Committee of the PDPA, and Prime Ministerof the DRA, Comrade Babrak Karmal, on the Occasion of His Election to Those Positions.”Kryuchkov didn’t have any critical remarks regarding these documents. They had allbeen thoroughly prepared. This is what he reported to the chairman of the KGB.“Then act,” Andropov reminded him again.683