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Reporter's Notebook; Soviet Seems Eager to Quit Afghan War
By PHILIP TAUBMAN, Special to the New York Times
Published: January 22, 1988
KABUL, Afghanistan, Jan. 20— The Soviet and Afghan authorities did their best this week to create the impression that the end game of Moscow's military intervention in Afghanistan has begun.
Diplomats are still talking about a negotiated settlement, a precise withdrawal schedule and international guarantees of noninterference in Afghan affairs. But Soviet soldiers and their officers, the civilian advisers and the corps of Russian correspondents all speak as if there is no longer a question of whether and when Moscow's involvement will end.
''We are leaving this year, whether or not there is an international settlement,'' a Russian told a foreign reporter who was visiting this week.
The statement, echoed privately by several Soviet officials in Moscow, is not consistent with official policy. A withdrawal of the 120,000 Soviet troops, according to that policy, is contingent on an end of Western aid to the guerrillas and a package of other agreements discussed under the auspices of the United Nations. A Change in Atmosphere
But in Kabul several signs suggest that the possibility of a unilateral withdrawal is not out of the question, and it appears that Afghan and Soviet officials are already preparing the way for the Russians to go.
For an American reporter returning to Kabul after a year's absence, a palpable change in atmosphere was apparent in the capital.
A year ago, the Afghans and the Russians seemed hunkered down for the continuation of the war, which began in late 1979 with the arrival of Soviet forces. There was little talk of turning the war over to the Afghan Army, or leaving the fate of the Government, headed by Najibullah, solely in its hands.
This week there was talk of little else. Almost every event organized for visiting reporters seemed designed to demonstrate the independence and power of the Afghan Army.
It seemed hardly to matter to the Afghan hosts that the events witnessed by the visitors often did not square with the official theme of the visit, and left an impression that the war and the general situation in Afghanistan are anything but under the Government's control.
But it was the show itself that counted for Afghan and Soviet audiences. Reports about the visit stressed how the foreign reporters had seen for themselves the fortitude and strength of Afghan units that recently helped break the siege of Khost, a town near the Pakistani border.
Najibullah, at a news conference today, repeatedly said the army was ready to deal with guerrillas on its own and was capable of preventing the collapse of the Government if Soviet forces withdrew. Protecting the Americans
American reporters who travel here to cover the war find themselves in the odd, somewhat uneasy, position of depending on Soviet forces to protect them against American-made missiles fired by American-backed guerrillas.
It takes some adjustment to feel comforted by the sight of Soviet soldiers and tanks, and to be heartened by the presence of a Soviet pilot in the cockpit of an Afghan Army plane.
Since the United States began providing the guerrillas with Stinger anti-aircraft missiles several years ago, flying in Afghanistan has become a risky business for both civilians and military forces.
After an unnerving flight this week from Khost back to Kabul, a Soviet reporter turned to an American correspondent on the plane and said, ''Your missiles and your women, they are both very dangerous.'' A Diplomatic Limbo
The life of American and other Western diplomats in Kabul is strange, to say the least.
The senior American diplomat, Jon D. Glassman, conducts no diplomacy, attends no Government functions and stays away from most Afghans.
Washington recognizes the pro-Soviet Government of Afghanistan, but to demonstrate its reservations, the State Department does not post an ambassador in Kabul and bars normal diplomatic business.
The same is true for many Western European nations.
The Americans work in an impressive but largely deserted embassy building near the airport. The twisted wreckage of two rockets that slammed into the compound a year ago rested on a table outside the embassy library, reminders of the war and the poor aim of guerrillas, who apparently intended to hit the Afghan radio headquarters next door.
American and other Western diplomats spend most of their time monitoring the political and military situation, although they are unable to travel outside Kabul.
By far the most lavish, if somewhat empty, embassy complex belongs to the British, a large estate left over from the days of the empire.
In what was once the ambassador's residence, now home to the charge d'affaires, visitors can leaf through game and fishing books once used to record hunting excursions.
The last entry was Nov. 26, 1960, when Naim, the Afghan Crown Prince, went duck hunting with Lord Landsdowne and the British Ambassador. They got 44 ducks.
Reporter's Notebook - Soviet Seems Eager to Quit Afghan War - NYTimes.com
By PHILIP TAUBMAN, Special to the New York Times
Published: January 22, 1988
KABUL, Afghanistan, Jan. 20— The Soviet and Afghan authorities did their best this week to create the impression that the end game of Moscow's military intervention in Afghanistan has begun.
Diplomats are still talking about a negotiated settlement, a precise withdrawal schedule and international guarantees of noninterference in Afghan affairs. But Soviet soldiers and their officers, the civilian advisers and the corps of Russian correspondents all speak as if there is no longer a question of whether and when Moscow's involvement will end.
''We are leaving this year, whether or not there is an international settlement,'' a Russian told a foreign reporter who was visiting this week.
The statement, echoed privately by several Soviet officials in Moscow, is not consistent with official policy. A withdrawal of the 120,000 Soviet troops, according to that policy, is contingent on an end of Western aid to the guerrillas and a package of other agreements discussed under the auspices of the United Nations. A Change in Atmosphere
But in Kabul several signs suggest that the possibility of a unilateral withdrawal is not out of the question, and it appears that Afghan and Soviet officials are already preparing the way for the Russians to go.
For an American reporter returning to Kabul after a year's absence, a palpable change in atmosphere was apparent in the capital.
A year ago, the Afghans and the Russians seemed hunkered down for the continuation of the war, which began in late 1979 with the arrival of Soviet forces. There was little talk of turning the war over to the Afghan Army, or leaving the fate of the Government, headed by Najibullah, solely in its hands.
This week there was talk of little else. Almost every event organized for visiting reporters seemed designed to demonstrate the independence and power of the Afghan Army.
It seemed hardly to matter to the Afghan hosts that the events witnessed by the visitors often did not square with the official theme of the visit, and left an impression that the war and the general situation in Afghanistan are anything but under the Government's control.
But it was the show itself that counted for Afghan and Soviet audiences. Reports about the visit stressed how the foreign reporters had seen for themselves the fortitude and strength of Afghan units that recently helped break the siege of Khost, a town near the Pakistani border.
Najibullah, at a news conference today, repeatedly said the army was ready to deal with guerrillas on its own and was capable of preventing the collapse of the Government if Soviet forces withdrew. Protecting the Americans
American reporters who travel here to cover the war find themselves in the odd, somewhat uneasy, position of depending on Soviet forces to protect them against American-made missiles fired by American-backed guerrillas.
It takes some adjustment to feel comforted by the sight of Soviet soldiers and tanks, and to be heartened by the presence of a Soviet pilot in the cockpit of an Afghan Army plane.
Since the United States began providing the guerrillas with Stinger anti-aircraft missiles several years ago, flying in Afghanistan has become a risky business for both civilians and military forces.
After an unnerving flight this week from Khost back to Kabul, a Soviet reporter turned to an American correspondent on the plane and said, ''Your missiles and your women, they are both very dangerous.'' A Diplomatic Limbo
The life of American and other Western diplomats in Kabul is strange, to say the least.
The senior American diplomat, Jon D. Glassman, conducts no diplomacy, attends no Government functions and stays away from most Afghans.
Washington recognizes the pro-Soviet Government of Afghanistan, but to demonstrate its reservations, the State Department does not post an ambassador in Kabul and bars normal diplomatic business.
The same is true for many Western European nations.
The Americans work in an impressive but largely deserted embassy building near the airport. The twisted wreckage of two rockets that slammed into the compound a year ago rested on a table outside the embassy library, reminders of the war and the poor aim of guerrillas, who apparently intended to hit the Afghan radio headquarters next door.
American and other Western diplomats spend most of their time monitoring the political and military situation, although they are unable to travel outside Kabul.
By far the most lavish, if somewhat empty, embassy complex belongs to the British, a large estate left over from the days of the empire.
In what was once the ambassador's residence, now home to the charge d'affaires, visitors can leaf through game and fishing books once used to record hunting excursions.
The last entry was Nov. 26, 1960, when Naim, the Afghan Crown Prince, went duck hunting with Lord Landsdowne and the British Ambassador. They got 44 ducks.
Reporter's Notebook - Soviet Seems Eager to Quit Afghan War - NYTimes.com