The Road to Afghanistan - George Washington University

disappearance of Sarwari and the former ministers.About forty young diplomats from many embassies arrived at the villa in the evening.Only the Americans and British were absent. The street in front of Starostin’s house wascrowded with cars with diplomatic licenses.The Iranian consul Iraj Deeba, a relative of the wife of the recently ousted Iranianshah, was the center of attention. He was sadly finishing the last days of his appointment inKabul, waiting for the end of his term, and wondering whether he would move on to live inEurope or the United States once the Iranian authorities demanded his return home. Hewas eagerly discussing the first steps taken by Khomeini’s regime. He didn’t criticize theregime openly, though his stories depicted a grim picture.The main topic of the night, however, was the latest news in Kabul, primarily theremoval of Taraki and Amin’s takeover of power. None of the diplomats tried to hide theirskepticism about the official version publicized by the media, according to which Taraki leftbecause of a serious illness. Some of the guests openly called the transfer of power a coupd’etat.“What do you think about it, Mr. Starostin?” many diplomats asked the host. Valeryhad anticipated such questions. He prepared his answers in the style of Puzanov. He saidthat the recent developments in the country were Afghan domestic affairs, and thereplacement of one leader by another, no matter what form it took, would not influence thedevelopment of traditionally friendly Soviet-Afghan relations. The diplomats smiled withunderstanding. Had they been in Starostin’s place, they would have made similar remarks.At the appointed time, as suggested by protocol, the diplomats began to depart inorder that they could jot down the information they had gleaned from one another while it570