The Road to Afghanistan - George Washington University

message this morning that the military base where the rebellious segment of theSeventeenth Infantry Division deployed was captured after bombing raids by a battalion ofparatroopers, supported by tanks that had arrived from Kandahar.“We will provide you with assistance by all possible means. However, our militaryintervention would immediately agitate the international community and would bringsharply negative consequences in a number of areas. Our common enemies are sitting andwaiting for Soviet troops to enter Afghan territory. One cannot but see that our troopswould have to fight not only the external aggressor, but also some segment of the Afghanpeople. People do not forgive such transgressions.”Kosygin pronounced these arguments smoothly, only occasionally glancing at thepapers that were arrayed before him. It was not difficult to translate his message intoPashto. The premier made necessary pauses for the interpreter and patiently waited asKozin relayed his words to the guest. Pashto is a difficult language for interpretation. Sincethe predicate is found at the end of the sentence, it is difficult to translate until the entirephrase has been uttered. Words then must be configured as figures in a game of chess.Having finished the last sentence, the interpreter looked at Taraki, noticing how hisusually kind eyes were tensed and fiery. It did not seem as though the good news fromHerat had convinced him that he had to give up the idea of inviting the Soviet troops.“We came to the conclusion,” continued Kosygin, “that at this stage, the mosteffective support for you would be exerting our political influence on the countriesneighboring Afghanistan and providing you with significant and multi-faceted assistance.These are the considerations that we wish to relay to you in an open and friendly way,” thechairman of the Soviet government finished, leaning against the back of his chair with a381