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, Andropov's 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. Andropov's 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 Soviet–Afghan War (1979–1989) 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 breakdown of the Soviet Union.