Jay Soloman, 'Failed Courtship of Warlord Trips Up U.S. in Afghanistan', Wall Street Journal, 8 November 2007.
"The U.S. is struggling to find tribal allies in Afghanistan and Pakistan as it tries to beat back the resurgence of al Qaeda and the Taliban. In alienating a powerful warlord named Jalaluddin Haqqani a few years ago, however, some U.S. and Afghan officials argue the Americans may have shot themselves in the foot.
"Mr. Haqqani is now one of the major rebel leaders roiling Afghanistan. But back in autumn 2002, he secretly sent word that he could ally with the new U.S.-friendly Afghan government. The warlord had once been a partner of the Central Intelligence Agency, and later closely collaborated with Osama bin Laden and the ruling Taliban. CIA officers held talks with his brother, Ibrahim, and made plans to meet with Mr. Haqqani, who was leading some of the Taliban's troops.
"But U.S. military forces operating separately from the CIA arrested Ibrahim -- cutting off the talks and entrenching his brother as a nemesis. Mr. Haqqani is still fighting U.S. troops along the Pakistan border. 'We blew our chance,' contends one of the CIA officers involved who had worked with Mr. Haqqani in the 1980s. 'I truly believe he could have been on our side.' Other senior officials in the CIA and Pentagon are less certain. But Washington's aborted courtship of Mr. Haqqani epitomizes the conflicts and calculations that are complicating U.S. involvement in the region."
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See also: James Gordon Meek, 'Remember the Name of This U.S. Enemy: Haqqani', Counterterrorism Blog, 21 October 2007.
Related posts:
'Beyond Warlordism: The Local Security Architecture in Afghanistan', 19 October 2007
'Transnational Rebels: Neighboring States as Sanctuary for Rebel Groups', 15 August 2007
'War and Peace Economies of Afghanistan's Strongmen', 5 June 2007
