Behind an Afghan veil

Press, 2 July 1983, Page 18

Behind an Afghan veil

The Queen of Spades. By John C. Griffiths. Hutchinson. 232 pp. $22.25.

(Reviewed by

A. J. Petre)

Afghanistan is a distant mystery to most people, but John Griffiths has travelled extensively in that country. His knowledge and keen observation show through in this well-crafted thriller which is centred on Russian plans to test and use a deadly chemical weapon, code-named the Queen of Spades, in their Afghanistan war. Griffiths — who has also written a history of the country — has as his hero Alexander Burnes, a Scottish hydrologist working in Afghanistan who gets caught up in the fighting. He is inclined to regard many of the stories of brutality as exaggerated, until he sees some of the results for himself. Usually the perpetrators are not the Russians themselves, but the Khalqi militia: young thugs recruited by the Russian-controlled Kabul Government. Often, however, Russian “advisers” are present. When Burnes returns to Britain and tries to tell of the tragic events in Afghanistan, he encounters scepticism and lack of interest. He is approached

by the guerrillas to return to Afghanistan and obtain proof of Russian chemical warfare plans — and he does so, only to find that the American and British establishments are keen to keep the whole matter dark. It seems they are not averse to seeing what the Russians have come up with, and how effective it is — at the expense of the Afghan villagers. So Burnes and his Afghan friends join in a plan to steal one of the Russian Queen of Spades missiles and use it as a threat to the Russians, and the British and Americans as well. The Russians are determined to prevent this, and are relentless in pursuit. The future of Burnes and his friends, fleeing through the rugged mountain country, seems likely to be painfully brief. Griffiths tells a timely tale vividly and well, with a conviction that shows his knowledge of and affection for Afghanistan and its people. He also clearly knows more than a little of modern weaponry, and his tales of chemical warfare lead one to wonder if those who worry publicly about nuclear weapons are not overlooking something.