E.O. 13224 and Haqqani Network

Badruddin Haqqani is a terrorist. He is the leader of the Taliban affiliated group known as the Haqqani Network in Afghanistan. This group predominantly operates in Eastern Afghanistan and Western Pakistan. Today, the U.S. State Department released a new Executive Order against him.

Remember, Haqqani split from Gullbidine Hekmytar and Kashmir Khan from the original Hezb Islami group due to his extraordinary extreme ideological principles. Hekmytar and Khan are both extremists which should make us all understand how extreme and dangerous Haqqani truly is.

Executive Order 13224 specifically states, “all property subject to U.S. jurisdiction in which Badruddin Haqqani has any interest is blocked and U.S. persons are prohibited from engaging in any transactions with him.” The UN also followed suit by issuance of United Nations 1267 Sanctions against Haqqani as well.

What will this Executive Order truly achieve? The answer is obvious; however, what mitigating factors could occur to resolve the turmoil and heinous activities that Haqqani and his followers instill? It is obvious that our leaders simply do not understand the threat posed against such Islamists nor do they know how to truly handle the situation.

In fact, our own U.S. government may have placed itself in a very unique predicament because of this Executive Order. It is known that the U.S. foolishly provides monetary aid to Pakistan. Some entities within the government of Pakistan have been believed to not only harbor terrorists like Bin Laden, but also provide support to Islamists through financial aid, intelligence, and weapon systems.

If we continue to provide aid to Pakistan, an activity that is more than questionable, what investigative or intelligence process will result to ensure our own U.S. tax payer money will not go into the hands of such mad men?

Not only is E.O 13224 a disgrace, it is the wrong message. Instead, E.O. 13224 should have stated, “ANY commander of a terrorist organization will become fish-food based off procured intelligence garnered from our recent raid of Bin Laden’s compound–yes, he sold you cowards out.”

General Patton is likely rolling in his grave right now seeing how weak we have become as a nation due to the incompetence among our national security leadership.

Kerry Patton has served in the U.S. Defense and Justice departments, and as a contractor within the Homeland Security and State departments. He has worked in South America, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and Europe, focusing on intelligence and security interviewing current and former terrorists, including members of the Taliban. He is the author of “Sociocultural Intelligence: The New Discipline of Intelligence Studies” and the children’s book “American Patriotism.”