The Road to Afghanistan - George Washington University

“Yura,” he addressed Andropov. “You promised me that not a hair on Taraki’s headwould be harmed. You told me that your people are in control of the situation. Would youcare to explain to me why all of this is happening?”“We have underestimated this Amin, Leonid Ilyich,” professed Andropov quietly.“He turned out to be more insidious than we imagined. He played us very well. He woulddeclare one thing to our comrades, while behind our back he plotted his evil deeds.”“We congratulated him on his election to the top positions in Afghanistan,” Gromykoreminded his colleagues. “Now our ambassador informs us that Amin wishes to come toMoscow on an official visit as the head of state and the party.”Leonid Ilyich furrowed his famous brows and looked increasingly severe. “What,will I have to kiss this adventurist now?”“He cannot be received in Moscow under any circumstances,” responded theminister of defense with an executive air.“We can tell Amin that the schedule of state and working visits for this year is filledup, and there are no opportunities to receive him in the near future,” suggested Gromyko.“He can come next year. We will wait and see what happens in the meantime.”“Yes, the situation in Afghanistan is complicated,” nodded Brezhnev gravely. “Let’smake a decision on how to proceed. I understand, Yura, that your shop doesn’t trust thisAmin too much?”“Yes, we have some alarming information,” said Andropov, shuffling a stack ofpapers in front of him. “I’ve already reported to you before that Amin has committed graveoffenses. He has conducted acts of repression against prominent party members. He is anovert Pashtun nationalist. There are rumblings of possible ties with American special627