Exactly. Brezhnev knew that, and yet did it anyways. That's what I'm saying. He went beyond wishy-washy, he gave clear signals to different sides which contradicted. Like telling Amin that killing Taraki was his decision, while also letting Taraki know the USSR favored him far more.

Honestly dealing with Amin was the dumbest move after a while, he wouldn't even condemn the US for backing the terror groups, only blamed Pakistan, despite knowing full well who backed them. He wanted to have his cake, eat it too, and then be given 10 more cakes.

I think interventionism limited to Kabul would be disastrous even if done early. The revolution was not not popular enough, and keeping a single city like that would mean war, and a defensive one at that. They would need to secure the border, which would mean more than Kabul, which would mean same as what did happen. Getting Taraki in power without moving troops in and ensuring that the revolution did not alienate most of the country was the only way this would work. By the time Taraki was dead and they moved in, there was no justification for intervention. The revolution never had great support, at best it would have been another Derg if I am being cynical. They should've given open approval of Taraki no matter what though.