The Road to Afghanistan - George Washington University

often than any of his other Soviet friends. Even the head of the Soviet military advising mission, Lt.Gen. Gorelov, could not visit Palace Ark as informally as Zaplatin. Neither Taraki nor Amin couldmake peace with the fact that Lt. Gen. Gorelov was Daoud’s trusted associate, who accompaniedDaoud in his trips across the country. Zaplatin spent a lot of energy trying to convince Afghanleaders that Lev Nikolayevich Gorelov was loyal to the spirit of the revolutionary changes and thathis extraordinary military experience would be very useful to them. Eventually Taraki and Aminmade peace with Gorelov’s presence, but they never fully trusted him.Zaplatin enthusiastically started to educate selected officers. It was not easy for him todevise a curriculum. He was not quite sure how to begin. What should the first, the most importanttopic be? As a political apparatchik of the Soviet school, he suggested formulating the topic assuch: “The Great October Revolution, Its Historical Meaning, Lessons, Conclusions, and the Need toSafeguard Its Results.” It sounded quite good from the point of view of a Soviet political operative,but Amin had his doubts. “Who will write about it? Nothing is yet stable in our party, and there islittle clarity in regards to many issues. Let’s wait.”Most probably, Amin had in mind that he was the one who eventually should be featured inthe discourse as the inspiration behind the success of the April Revolution, but now he had toshare his celebrity status with Taraki, Qadir, and Watanjar. In addition, Karmal could mix thingsup.After some thoughts, Vasily Petrovich offered a variant on the title: “Our NorthernNeighbor, the Soviet Union.”Amin was pleased with this suggestion. He wanted Zaplatin to spend as much time asnecessary covering this topic.Zaplatin allocated ten hours to studying the USSR and soon realized that this was the right163