This won’t end well.
(CNSNews.com) – A Taliban delegation that will enter formal talks with the United States in Qatar later this week will, according to a U.S. official, also represent the Haqqani network, a group that has existed far longer than either the Taliban or al-Qaeda and has played a key role of terror enabler to both.
The notion of the Haqqani network (HQN) committing to breaking ties with al-Qaeda and, especially, renouncing violence – two of the stated U.S. conditions for the Afghanistan reconciliation process to succeed – seems doubtful, given its almost 40-year history and the central role it has played in advancing the jihadist cause.
With longstanding, close ties to Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency, the HQN also remains an important player in Islamabad’s efforts to pursue what it sees as its strategic interests in Afghanistan, including countering Indian influence there.
“All I’ve seen of the Haqqanis would make it hard for me to believe they were reconcilable,” International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) commander Gen. Joseph Dunford acknowledged during a Pentagon press conference by phone on Tuesday.