There was an eight-month interval between the Politburo's "firm” decision not to commit troops on April 12 and the invasion on the night of December 27 to 28. Initially, the Politburo continued to send out negative signals concerning the use of Soviet troops. The ambassador was instructed to tell the Afghans, who were pressing for Soviet helicopter crews, that "such attack helicopters, operated by Afghan crews, in combination with other air force detachments, can [alone] carry out the mission of suppressing counter-revolutionary actions.”
Throughout the eight-month interim, Afghanistan policy was overseen by the same committee of four (Gromyko, Andropov, Ustinov, and Ponomarev) who devised the April 12 strategy. As they monitored events, they saw few signs of encouragement. In a report dated June 28, they complained about the follies and missteps of the increasingly dictatorial Afghan government. Ominously, they recommended that, in addition to senior specialists to advise the Afghan army, special KGB troops (disguised as technicians) be sent in to protect the Soviet embassy along with a detachment of paratroopers (disguised as maintenance personnel) to protect key government facilities. Presumably, the disguises were to fool Afghan government officials as the Soviets covertly built up a military presence in the country. Indeed, it was such clandestine forces of the KGB that executed Amin the night of December 27.
We do not have access to the secret reports submitted to the Politburo by KGB and military intelligence during this period, but it was the KGB, under Andropov, that began to detect signs of a vast conspiracy by the United States and its allies. The KGB's growing suspicion was prompted by a bloody coup which removed the general secretary of the Afghan party, Taraki.
In September of 1979, the simmering feud between President (and party general secretary) Taraki and Prime Minister Amin boiled over. Taraki perished in a coup organized by Amin, who was now in sole charge and whose actions increasingly alarmed his watchers in Andropov's KGB. The KGB became increasingly suspicious as Amin sought reconciliation with opposition groups, purged the government of party members, and even made overtures to the American CIA.
The turning point came in early December with Andropov's alarming memo to Brezhnev, in which he warned that Amin's actions were "threatening the achievements of the April revolution.” Specifically Andropov wrote that the situation in Afghanistan had taken an "undesirable turn for us,” that Amin may be making a "possible political shift to the West,” including "contacts with an American agent that are kept secret from us” and promises to tribal leaders to adopt a policy of neutrality.
Andropov offered a solution to Amin's treachery. He had been contacted by exiled Afghan communists, in particular by Babrak Karmal, who had "worked out a plan for opposing Amin and for creating 'new' party and state organs.” In other words, Andropov had exiled Afghan communists lined up to take over after a coup to remove Amin. These exiled Afghan compatriots, according to Andropov "have raised the question of possible assistance, in case of need, including military.” Clearly the exiles did not have enough support to overthrow Amin on their own.
Andropov went on to note that the current Soviet military presence in Afghanistan was probably sufficient to render such "assistance” but "as a precautionary measure in the event of unforeseen complications, it would be wise to have a military group close to the border.” Such military force would allow the Soviets to "decide various questions pertaining to the liquidation of gangs” (presumably the liquidation of Amin).4
The Andropov stance became the policy mantra of the Andropov, Gromyko, Ustinov, and Ponomarev commission, which in its subsequent reports emphasized that "foreign intervention and terror against honest and loyal cadres threaten to destroy the benefits of the April revolution.” The Politburo commission accepted Andropov's characterization of Afghanistan as a crisis that had to be resolved quickly.
There is a limited paper trail for the time between the Andropov memo in early December and the actual invasion. There was never a written invasion order; there were fears that the soon-to-be-deposed Amin would get wind. The Politburo began to use code words in its own meetings, and its few official documents refer to "A” (for Afghanistan) and "measures” to denote the invasion and the associated coup against Amin.
According to the memoirs of a knowledgeable Soviet military official, a meeting was held in Brezhnev's private office on December 8,5 attended by Andropov, Gromyko, Suslov and Ustinov, to discuss a possible invasion. Andropov and Ustinov purportedly cited CIA plans to threaten the USSR's southern flank with missiles in Afghanistan, and cited the danger that Afghan uranium deposits could be used by Pakistan and Iraq. At the end of the meeting, two options were identified: (i) to remove Amin by the hands of KGB special agents and replace him with the loyal Babrak Karmal; (2) to accomplish the same by sending in Soviet troops. An invasion was still up in the air, but it was already decided that Amin had to be removed.
On December 10, defense minister and Politburo subcommittee member Ustinov ordered the chief of the general staff, N. V. Ogar-kov, to prepare eighty thousand troops for the "measure.” The chief of staff purportedly objected, saying that the "measure” could not be carried out with such a number of troops, but was told to obey Politburo orders. On the same day, Ogarkov was summoned to a meeting with Brezhnev and the Politburo subcommittee where he failed to persuade the Politburo not to use force. That evening, Ustinov ordered the military leadership to prepare for the invasion, and troops were mobilized in the staging area in Turkistan.
The actual decision to invade Afghanistan was made at a meeting held in Brezhnev's country house two days later, on December 12. The meeting was attended by four of the fifteen Politburo members (Brezhnev, Ustinov, Gromyko, and Chernenko). Andropov was notably absent [unless the attendance record is inaccurate], but he was well informed about what was going to transpire. The resolution was written by hand by Konstantin Chernenko (to ensure absolute secrecy) and was entitled "About the situation in 'A' [code word for Afghanistan]” and reads:
1. Confirm the measures [code word for invasion] proposed by Andropov, Ustinov, and Gromyko, authorizing them to make minor changes in the course of execution of these measures. Questions that require a decision from the Central Committee should be introduced to the Politburo.
Handwritten document with Politburo Member signatures of authorization of Afghan war.
Andropov, Ustinov, and Gromyko are charged with carrying out these measures. 2. Andropov, Ustinov and Gromyko should keep the Politburo informed on the execution of these measures. Signed L. Brezhnev.
This handwritten decree was placed in a special safe.
The Politburo was comprised of fifteen members, but the decision was made, presumably in the strictest of secrecy, by only six of them, including, of course, party general secretary Brezhnev. It was not until the day before the invasion that the plan to invade was presented to the full Politburo (on December 26). With the "measures” ready to go into operation within twenty-four hours, it was clear that the full Politburo was to act as a rubber stamp. It is noteworthy that the protocols approved at this Politburo meeting continue to use veiled language and code words. After a presentation of the invasion plan by the Afghanistan commission, general secretary Brezhnev spoke in indirect language:
[Brezhnev] expressed a series of wishes to approve this plan of action, mentioned by these comrades, for the near future. It was recognized as wise for the Commission of the Politburo, given the contents and direction of the reported plan, to carefully weigh each step of its actions. Questions where it would be necessary to obtain decisions should be brought to the Central Committee on a timely basis.
At this meeting, each Politburo member was asked to sign the handwritten decree "About the situation in 'A'” prepared at Brezhnev's dacha on December 12. According to the dates of the signatures scrawled across the page, some had already signed off the day before, but two signed on the day of the presentation (December 26). Notably, there is no signature of Kosygin, the head of state, who was notably absent from the meeting and was a known opponent of the invasion.
World History
