The Last Laugh in Afghanistan

the first place, be imperative to retain the loyally of the servitors. Given the son's rather indifferent record of electoral performance over the five years of his reign, should he in addition be at the receiving end of a huge drubbing in the national polls due in the winter, the erstwhile retainers might arrive at their own conclusion, namely, the triumph in December 1984 was exclusively on account of the burning embers of the mother's funeral pyre; since funeral pyres are not for ever, there was little point in not shifting their loyalty.