The Road to Afghanistan - George Washington University

activists.After he drafted the cable, Valery read the text back to his visitors in Dari. He asked ifhe had described their allegations properly.“All three of us can sign it if you need us to,” Sarwari responded.Then Valery announced that he needed to go to the embassy immediately. Hisintention caused some tension.“Will you take your wife with you?” asked Sarwari.“Yes, she would be more secure at the embassy. After I return home we will send herover there. For now Tamara will finish cooking the chicken and rice so that we havesomething to eat.”The cable was sent priority and immediately found its way to the top leadership of theUSSR. It included a note from the KGB Representative Office and the Residency indicatingthat the information reported by Sarwari and the ministers was still unverified, as thesources had not presented any tangible evidence or documents to back up their claims. Hiscolleagues in the Center later informed Starostin of the shockwaves his document had sentthrough the Kremlin. The cable arrived simultaneously with other alarming news fromKabul. There had been a shoot-out in the People’s Palace, Taraki had been de facto isolated,and Amin’s behavior had become more reckless. Collectively, these reports seemed torepresent the last straw for the Soviet leaders.While he sat in Orlov-Morozov’s office, Starostin drafted another cable, this oneconfidential, for the intelligence leadership only. He informed them of the arrival at his villaof the two outcast ministers and the head of state security services. He described thesituation in the district surrounding his house as “calm.” He informed the Soviet leadership548