 Complete the following phrase:  In March 1979, Andropov and the Politburo initially opposed their subsequent decision to intervene militarily in Afghanistan. Among their concerns were that the international community would blame the USSR for its aggression and that it would derail the upcoming SALT II negotiation meeting with President Carter. However, Andropovs stance changed after the assassination of Nur Muhammad Taraki and the seizure of power by Hafizullah Amin. Andropov became convinced that the CIA had recruited Amin to create a pro-Western expansionist New Great Ottoman Empire which would attempt to dominate Soviet Central Asia. Andropovs bottom line: under no circumstances can we lose Afghanistan, led him and the Politburo to invade Afghanistan on 24 December 1979. The invasion led to the extended SovietAfghan War 19791989 and a boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympic Games in Moscow by 66 countries, something of concern to Andropov since spring 1979. Some have proposed that the Soviet-Afghan War also played an important role in the 