From our barely better late than never category, the US State Department last week finally got round to officially declaring the Haqqani Network a Foreign Terrorist Organization.
The US military has been pushing for this designation for years, but the limp wrists at Foggy Bottom have resisted because they didn’t want to offend our “allies” in Pakistan.
Despite what you may have seen/heard in the media, this is a largely symbolic designation at this point anyway. The State Department claims that this designation puts all sorts of economic, financial and diplomatic pressure down on the organization by making those who support it risk US sanctions. But if you look at how other terrorist organizations have managed to continue to exist under this same designation, the unmistakable conclusion that you come to is that the impact is limited. The Muslims around the world who train, supply and fund these types of organizations don’t care much about US designations.
The only scenario in which these types of designations can be helpful is when they are imposed very quickly after the organization is uncovered. In the case of the Haqqani Network, this offshoot of the Taliban was and is supported by the Pakistani ISI (their intelligence service) and the State Department was reluctant to offend the ISI, despite the fact that the ISI is complicit in killing American GIs…
…Incidentally, the Taliban has NEVER been designated a terrorist organization. After all, it would be “awkward” for Vice President Biden to be giving speeches declaring that the Taliban are “not our enemies” when they are on the terrorism list. It would also make Secretary of State Hillary Clinton look bad as she is keen on negotiating with the Taliban…
Terror Trends Bulletin 