Pentagon not sweating Haqqani designation

As the deadline approaches for the State Department to either designate the Pakistan-based Haqqani network as a terrorist organization or explain to Congress why it refuses to do so, the Pentagon is claiming its operations will not be affected one way or the other.   "There’s immense frustration with the Haqqani network with commanders, especially ...

Joshua Partlow/The Washington Post via Getty Images
Joshua Partlow/The Washington Post via Getty Images
Joshua Partlow/The Washington Post via Getty Images

As the deadline approaches for the State Department to either designate the Pakistan-based Haqqani network as a terrorist organization or explain to Congress why it refuses to do so, the Pentagon is claiming its operations will not be affected one way or the other.
 
"There's immense frustration with the Haqqani network with commanders, especially in Afghanistan. Any tool, including designation, that can be brought to bear against the Haqqanis would be welcome," a Defense Department official told the E-Ring on Thursday, speaking on background due to the sensitive nature of the intra-agency issue. "That's the general consensus."
 
That said, does the designation really matter for the military or intelligences services actually fighting the Haqqani network?  "No, I don't think so, not really," the official said. "To the effect that second-order and third-order effect of having the Haqqani squeezed, you know, their bank accounts," -- perhaps -- "but we go after them now, right, inside Afghanistan. And there are, of course, other U.S. government agencies that go after them elsewhere."
 
Conservatives in Congress have been upset with the State Department, which has so far refused calls to put the group on the official terrorism bad-guy list because it is linked to elements that will be required in any peace negotiations among Afghanistan, the Taliban, and Pakistan. So, last month Congress passed a provision requiring the State Department to make the designation, or explain why it won't in a report to Congress by Sept. 9.
 
No matter what it says, though, fighting on the Af-Pak border will continue on Sept. 10.
 

As the deadline approaches for the State Department to either designate the Pakistan-based Haqqani network as a terrorist organization or explain to Congress why it refuses to do so, the Pentagon is claiming its operations will not be affected one way or the other.
 
"There’s immense frustration with the Haqqani network with commanders, especially in Afghanistan. Any tool, including designation, that can be brought to bear against the Haqqanis would be welcome," a Defense Department official told the E-Ring on Thursday, speaking on background due to the sensitive nature of the intra-agency issue. "That’s the general consensus."
 
That said, does the designation really matter for the military or intelligences services actually fighting the Haqqani network?  "No, I don’t think so, not really," the official said. "To the effect that second-order and third-order effect of having the Haqqani squeezed, you know, their bank accounts," — perhaps — "but we go after them now, right, inside Afghanistan. And there are, of course, other U.S. government agencies that go after them elsewhere."
 
Conservatives in Congress have been upset with the State Department, which has so far refused calls to put the group on the official terrorism bad-guy list because it is linked to elements that will be required in any peace negotiations among Afghanistan, the Taliban, and Pakistan. So, last month Congress passed a provision requiring the State Department to make the designation, or explain why it won’t in a report to Congress by Sept. 9.
 
No matter what it says, though, fighting on the Af-Pak border will continue on Sept. 10.
 

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