US Faces Deadline in Haqqani Network Decision: UPdated
In my books this decision is simple, unless the leadership has changed completely, then they are, were, and will remain a terrorist organization. Just because they tone it down at convenient times and sometimes pretend to act as interlocutors doesn’t mean they are not terrorists. Once a terrorist, always a terrorist. That doesn’t mean we can’t talk to them, we have with other terror orgs, and if we are to have peace in Afghanistan at some point in the future we are also going to have to talk to the Taliban. I’ve been saying that since 2006 - that doesn’t mean we change their designation however.
UPDATE: Haqqani Network declared Terrorist
The Obama administration faces a weekend deadline to decide whether the Pakistan-based Haqqani network should be declared a terrorist organization, a complicated political decision as the U.S. withdraws from Afghanistan and pushes for a reconciliation pact to end more than a decade of warfare.
Enraged by a string of high-profile attacks on U.S. and NATO troops, Congress has ordered Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to give her verdict by Sunday. U.S. officials say there are disagreements within the administration over what to decide.
