a house divided, 1933–73Ratebzad, fearing for their lives, fled to the nearby Ministry of Commerce
and Babrak later had to have hospital treatment for his injuries. In March
the following year, during an official visit to Washington, dc, Maiwandwal
prophetically informed State Department officials that Afghanistan faced
an ‘explosive situation... which might escalate into a bigger danger’. 47
The deepening economic and political crisesWhile the country was in political turmoil the economy continued its
downward spiral, creating even more disillusionment with government
and the monarchy. By the late 1960s Afghanistan had an annual account
deficit of between 500 and 600 million afghanis, due mainly to the collapse
of the karakul trade and the closure of the Pakistan frontier. The shortages
of essential foodstuffs were exacerbated when the government decided
to export most of the wheat crop in order to secure the foreign currency
it needed to meet repayments on the country’s foreign debt. At the same
time state expenditure burgeoned, for the nationalization of the shirkats
had tripled the number of state employees. In an attempt to raise additional
revenue, the government imposed heavy duties on imports of luxury goods,
but when it tried to tax livestock the Wolusi Jirga vetoed the measure.
As the deficit burgeoned, Afghanistan’s international creditors became
increasingly concerned about the country’s liquidity, which had a nega-
tive impact on the country’s credit rating and made Western countries
increasingly reluctant to lend anything more than small amounts for
specific projects. In 1967 American assistance was further restrained by
the Conte–Long and Symington Amendments to the Foreign Assistance
Act, which required u.s. foreign aid to be reduced in proportion to the
sum recipient countries spent on ‘sophisticated’ weapons. Since the Afghan
government had been buying modern Soviet tanks, MiG jets and ground-
to-air missiles, the question of the legality of further American loans to
Afghanistan was raised for, in the State Department’s view, its military
build-up was ‘inordinate’ and ‘out of all proportion to [Afghanistan’s]
economic situation’. The Afghan government did not help matters when,
shortly after the Conte-Symington Amendments became law, it proudly
showed off its newly acquired Soviet missiles and Su-7 fighter jets during
the annual Independence Day parade.
By 1967 the economic situation was so bad that Prime Minister
Maiwandwal asked the State Department, during a visit to Washington,
for a loan of $4.4 million to purchase American wheat and edible oil. While
the u.s. administration debated whether to agree to the loan, Maiwandwal’s