The Road to Afghanistan - George Washington University

the Afghan people, and have heard it said that your hands are stained with the blood ofothers. What is the truth?”Sarwari seemed to have been expecting the question. “I am not offended,” he replied.“It’s true. My hands are completely covered with blood. However, all the crackdowns thatwere carried out by the security services were first ordered by the party leadership, firstand foremost by Hafizullah Amin. Neither my staff members nor I would ever have arrestedor executed anyone without an order from the top. To tell you honestly, I have no love forParchamis and I wouldn’t want to be their ally. Still, I would not touch any of them withoutthe direct and explicit order of Amin, unless of course I had received irrefutable evidence oftheir actions against the state. Even though I think that reactionary Muslim clans aredragging our country back to the Middle Ages, I would not even interrogate any ofMojadeddi’s relatives unless I had irrefutable proof of their terrorist actions. Until a certainpoint, I was convinced that my actions would benefit the revolution. I never concernedmyself with political issues. Politics was the domain of Comrades Taraki, Amin, andmembers of the Politburo. My business was to carry out orders. Everything continued thatway until I realized that the AGSA had turned into an instrument of terror in the hands ofAmin. The rest—who Amin really is—you already know.”“My God,” thought Valery, “this is all so similar to the history of the Soviet Union.Beriya also claimed that he was simply fulfilling the will of the party when he was arrested.We are all walking along the same circle.”It became dark. The tea had grown cold and the conversation had begun to winddown. News on the radio was reporting that Major Tarun had been killed in the People’sPalace during an attempt on Amin’s life. Then the broadcast said that Taraki was in the555