What Haqqani's new terror status means

(CBS News) Right up there with al Qaeda on the list of enemies is a militant group on the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan known as the Haqqani network.

On Friday, the Obama administration declared it a terrorist organization - which essentially blacklists it.

An undated photo of Jalaluddin Haqqani, patriarch of the Haqqani network, a fundamentalist Islamic group based near the Afghan border in Pakistan.

/ CBS

The Haqqani network has been linked to some of the most spectacular terrorist attacks of the Afghan war. One attack last year targeted the U.S. embassy in Kabul, and another giant truck bomb set off at the entrance to an American outpost last June are just to name a few.

So when Secretary of State Hillary Clinton interrupted a trip through Asia to announce the Haqqani network would be officially designated a foreign terrorist organization, it may have seemed like a blinding flash of the obvious. But it was a decision which had tied the Obama administration in knots and was only settled by the need to meet a Congressionally ordered deadline.

Haqqani: Terrorist designation may bring "hardships" for U.S. POW Bowe Bergdahl
U.S. designating Haqqani network a terrorist organization

The designation gives the administration a tool - but not a silver bullet - to go after Haqqani finances by pressuring banks in Pakistan and the Arab countries of the Persian Gulf to freeze their assets. That's not nearly as fast acting as the CIA drone strike which last month killed Badruddin Haqqani, one of the sons of the patriarch of the network.

This image made from video released Wednesday April 7, 2010 by the Taliban via the Site Intelligence Group shows U.S. soldier Pfc. Bowe Bergdahl.

/ AP Photo/Site Intelligence Group

But the terrorist designation also complicates the on-again-off-again efforts to start peace talks. More specifically, it could add another obstacle to attempts to negotiate the release of Bowe Bergdahl, an American soldier who walked of his base and has been held by the Haqqanis since 2009. It is also a slap in the face of a critical U.S. ally, since the Haqqani network is based in Pakistan and, according to U.S. officials, is supported by Pakistani intelligence.

Whatever the ultimate effect of the terror designation, life does seem to be getting more difficult for the Haqqanis. By this time last year, the Haqqanis had been blamed for 12 attacks in and around Kabul. So far this year there have been just three.

[pcfpgarty]

Now it has a name . We call them the Haqqani network . How did the word network get in their name ? Are they different from other Terrorist organizations? Anyway poor Bowe Bergdahl they won't do anything to him for awhile , I don't think , but his chances of long term survival is not good. The Haqqanis will hold him for as long as it may be useful to them in some way or other. I wonder how many more terrorist groups will be added to the list over the next ten years ? That list will also be receiving names from our own country. Living in this world from this time on will be getting more and more stressful. Expect more shootings like the ones in Colorado , Texas and Virginia. Now when you go outside carry and umbrella in case of rain and wear a bullet proof vest by Calvin Klein .

[Nikos_Retsos]

The U.S. "terrorist status" designation to the Haqqani network will mean "absolutely nothing!" Surely it gives Obama campaign points v. Romney in the campaign trail, but when it comes to money, weapons, and explosives flow to the Haqqani's nothing change. Fact: If the U.S. could strangulate the Haqqani's financial sources and military supplies, it would have done it 10 years ago. It can't, because it doesn't know where they come from! The U.S. sanctions can be effective on Iran because its oil sales are official and money goes through various banks officially, but that is not how the Haqqani, Al Qaeda, Al Shabah (Somalia), Boko Haram (Nigeria), the Chechens (Chesnya), and other guerrilla groups handle their finances, or their weapons purchases.

The Haqqani is the umbrella organization of the Pashtun tribe which comprises 42% of the Afghan people + the Pakistani Pashtun. Even Afghan president Karzai and most of his top officials are Pashtun. I don't have any doubt that some of the $ hundreds of millions of dollars stolen from the U.S. aid to Afghanistan by corrupt Karzai officials find their way into the Haqqani network. That funneling will continue, but with the U.S. sanctions now, the routing to the Haqqani will be re-routed through other sources or venues.

The U.S. "terrorist status" label on the Haqqanis will, therefore, have no effect on them, but it gives the U.S. bragging rights, so its doesn't look impotent! Nikos Retsos, retired professor

[skeezix06]

It means support for the war was dropping drastically in the polls so the Pentagon needed to find a new public enemy #1 in a impoverished third world country in order to continue getting their money.

[quincytodd]

Another way Barack Obama is trying to make himself look good in order to get reelected. Unfortunately, most people are going to buy into this since it's the politically correct thing to do. Whether the Haqqanis are terrorists or not, we'll never know!

[murkymook]

Oceania has always been at war with East Asia.

[HuntinFishin]

haha!

[signseeker1717]

These are our SECOND tier enemies - (since Obama has gutted and neutralized al Qaeda). A squeeze play between the Haqqanis and the US, our NATO allies and the UN. Based in Pakistan, they NEED money. Who do YOU think will prevail? Does the name Bin Laden ring a bell? Another threat goin' DOWN.

Once President Obama declares you "terrorist", you're DEAD.

[badtimes2011]

i couldn't have said that any better.

[qmpash]

We should follow what the Russians do. If a terrorist holds a hostage, they will shoot the hostage in order to kill the terrorist. These terrorists are killing American soldiers every day and we should be concerned because they hold one American hostage? He is toast anyway. Let's go after the guys who kidnapped him. Get the drones aflying. And if Pakistan is a "key" U.S. ally, God help us. They knowingly hid bin Laden for years and divulged key intelligence data to al Quaeda for years.

[signseeker1717]

We should not follow the Russians in ANYTHING. Unfortunately we already did under Bush. President Obama will handle it. He KNOWS how to use drones, and maxmimize our resources, with maximum results. He's been fabulous so far. I trust him to deal with this, and similar.

[lillyhorton]

No one would be killing US soldiers, "American" encompases south and central American, if The US stayed in her own country and protected her borders.