The Road to Afghanistan - George Washington University

trusted the deputy resident, who was about ten years his senior.Orlov-Morozov always spoke very quietly, almost without any inflection. He liked to makelong pauses, not only between phrases, but also in the middle of sentences, making it very difficultto communicate with him. One would feel constant tension and discomfort looking into his paleblue eyes while waiting for him to utter the next word. Afghanis called such a manner of speakingguz-ye murda, or a dead man’s sigh. However, Alexander Victorovich was a superb writer. Hewrote logically and precisely, without drafts or the need to introduce corrections. He was erudite,and had many hobbies. He was interested in geology. He spent a lot of money to order trekkingpoles and hiking boots from Germany to hike in the Afghan mountains. He was interested inchemistry, particularly the secrets of producing alcoholic drinks—Italian grappa in particular—although he did not drink alcohol. He was also very interested in rare fish that lived in the Red Sea,and problems of cosmic time and space. His main responsibility at the Residency was to superviseinformational and analytical activities, among other things.Valery attentively read the cable passed on to him by Orlov-Morozov. The cable was aboutto be sent off to the Center. It contained information about the victims on both sides afteryesterday’s clashes, including the elimination of the presidential guards, three-quarters of whomhad been killed or wounded. There were a number of servicemen killed in various militarydetachments of the Afghan army; soldiers and officers died on the day of the coup not onlybecause of the armed clashes with the rebels, but also because of their internal conflicts.Valery also read that some high-ranking officials of the Afghan army and governmentministers were stripped of their clothes and locked inside cages of the Kabul Zoo during the nightof the coup d’etat. With sadness, he learned from the cable that his acquaintance, a brother-in-lawof the king and a former military attaché in Moscow, Brigadier General Suleyman Rokai, had been94