Soviet Union: Wordplay

Red faces in the control room

Listeners to Radio Moscow's English-language service last Monday could hardly believe what they were hearing. "The population of Afghanistan plays an increasing role in defending the country's territory against Soviet occupants," Announcer Vladimir Danchev declared in his hourly news roundup. He went on to quote Afghan tribal elders as saying that Soviet activities endangered "the security of the population of Afghanistan." An hour later Danchev repeated the same bulletin. During the next hourly summary, he reported that the Afghan population was playing a greater role in defending the country "against bands infiltrated from the...