The Road to Afghanistan - George Washington University

hand of the departing leader. At the height of the ceremony, from the corner of his eye, henoticed Hafizullah Amin scuttling up the gangway and sneaking onto the airplane.Another splendid ceremony awaited the Afghan guests at the government airportVnukovo 2. The guests were greeted by General Secretary L.I. Brezhnev and other Sovietleaders. According to tradition, there were embraces and kisses, the national anthem wasplayed, and the honor guards marched. Leonid Ilyich invited the Afghan leader to join himin his car. The adviser of the Afghan Department of Foreign Affairs, Stanislav Gavrilov, wastheir interpreter. During the trip from Vnukovo to the Kremlin, Brezhnev tried to speak toTaraki. Gavrilov readily interpreted into Dari. However, the Afghani pretended that hedidn’t understand. “Comrade Taraki must be tired,” commented the general secretarycondescendingly. “Perhaps he should have a nap while we are driving. He has spent the lastseven hours up in the air.”The official program of the visit began the next day. The second secretary of theSoviet embassy in Kabul, Dmitry Rurikov, was to interpret for the two leaders. Gavrilov wason standby. However, before the negotiations began, Taraki unexpectedly declared, “We,members of the delegation that have arrived in the friendly Soviet Union, are Afghanis. Tobe more precise, we are Pashtuns. This is why we would like Pashto to be used in thisremarkable setting. As far as I know, your interpreters do not speak Pashto. This is why wehave included a Pashtun officer in our delegation who has studied in your country and isfluent in Russian.”Leonid Ilyich, who understood very little of what was said, reacted to Taraki’s wordsvery calmly. To be more precise, he showed no reaction whatsoever. The head of the Sovietgovernment, Premier Kosygin, stared at the documents that had been laid out in front of259