The Road to Afghanistan - George Washington University

The next morning, Bogdanov’s people arrived at the airport long before the flightdeparted. They were to familiarize themselves with the contents of the package beforereturning the letter to the Moscow-bound generals. But Amin was one step ahead. All of thepassengers on the Aeroflot flight took their seats on board before the courier arrived. Thegenerals could wait no longer. They were the last ones up the gangway. At that verymoment, a sedan screeched to a halt beside the plane. Iqbal Waziri, the head of the PoliticalDirectorate of the Afghan army, emerged from the car. He caught up to the advisers andhanded them a wax-sealed packet. Soon the cabin doors closed and the plane lumbereddown the runway.Inside the airplane, Zaplatin examined the thick packet, and handed it to Gorelov.“You will see the head of General Staff before me. You should give this to him.”The package was handed to Marshal Ogarkov that day. Nobody knows whathappened to the package. Nobody ever mentioned if Brezhnev read Amin’s letter, or couldsay with certainty what the letter was about. Was it about an official visit to the SovietUnion, or about recalling Ambassador Puzanov, or perhaps an explanation of the rationalethat led to Taraki’s overthrow?Amin had also sent requests for an official invitation from Moscow using alternatechannels. However, that was not the extent of his accomplishments as head of state.Whatever was later said of Amin, the hundred days of his rule were filled with activity in alldirections. A ten-year program for developing the national economy and a five-year plan toimplement the program were developed and approved with his direct participation. Asbefore, he dealt intensely with international affairs, in particular trying to find acompromise in relations with Pakistan. That compromise, however, was never found. He608