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Senators introduce bipartisan legislation designating Pakistan-based Haqqanis as terrorists
The top Democrat and Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday introduced legislation requiring the State Department to designate the Pakistan-based Haqqani Network as a terrorist organization.
The move comes one day after the House postponed a vote on legislation that would have required the Obama administration to tell Congress whether the Haqqanis qualify as a terrorist group and, if not, which criteria have not been met. Separately, the chairmen of the House Intelligence, Armed Services and Foreign Affairs committees introduced legislation last month calling on the administration to designate the group as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, which would make it unlawful for Americans to provide material support or resources to the group.
“You cannot negotiate with terrorists, and in my view that’s exactly what the Haqqani Network is,” bill sponsor Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said in a statement. “I have urged the State Department to designate Haqqani as an FTO for more than two years. Meanwhile, the organization continues to kill Americans in Afghanistan and launch brazen and indiscriminate attacks against innocent men, women and children in the region.”
The State Department announced in November that it was engaged in the “final formal review” on whether to designate the group as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, and attacks on NATO troops have continued since then. Some government officials, however, worry that labeling the organization that way could hinder talks with the Taliban, which is closely affiliated with the Haqqani Network.
