Haqqani Network Takes a Blow

Long War: A couple days ago the Kabul Attack Network (KAN) launched a terror strike on a prominent hotel in downtown Kabul, killing foreign businessmen and stabbing a dagger into the heart of the war effort. Today a NATO air strike killed the Haqqani Network chieftain who organized the terror strike. KAN is an elite group of jihadist fighters handpicked from the Pakistan Taliban, Haqqani Network, and other terror groups. It is essentially run by the Haqqani Network and is a tool not only for launching sophisticated terror strikes but also to establish the Haqqani Network as dominant over its fellow jihadist organizations in the Af/Pak theater. What then is the Haqqani Network and what are the implications of today's successful blow against it?

We must go all the way back to the mujaheddin war against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan to answer the first question. The Haqqani Network was associated more closely with the CIA and ISI during the anti-Soviet war than any other mujaheddin group. The Haqqanis were in fact created by the CIA and ISI and as a consequence they were (and are) the best of the best. Osama Bin Laden rose to prominence after the Soviets left Afghanistan because his group of mujaheddin never accepted money or training from the CIA, totally the opposite of the Haqqanis.

But as years of Afghan fighting wore on after 9/11 it became less and less important who was associated with the CIA back in the old days and more important who was skilled and effective in the here and now. Also, as a creature of the ISI, the Haqqanis had lots of useful contacts within the Pak government. In fact the Haqqanis and the dirty part of the ISI are like a hand and glove.

Finding and killing the leader of the Kabul hotel terror strike so quickly means that the CIA has infiltrated the ISI or the Haqqani Network or KAN or all three.

Now let's take a step back and examine the relationship between the CIA and ISI. It is best explained with an analogy. The relationship is like a dysfunctional marriage where the husband (CIA) routinely beats the wife (ISI). And as is so often the case in a relationship like that, the wife often leaves the husband only to come crawling back, weeping and groveling. Also, there is always the chance that the wife will try to stab the husband while he sleeps but the husband wakes up just in time and then gives the wife a sound thrashing.

So with all this in mind I have one other news item for you: The Pak government (probably at the behest of the ISI) has closed down a key CIA drone base inside Pakistan. If we put our analogy in play it works like this: The CIA has killed an asset of the ISID (ISI Dirt), this is like the husband beating the wife. In retaliation, the ISI has closed down a CIA drone base, the wife tries to stab the husband in his sleep. But the husband and wife still love each other despite the dysfunction and the marriage lives on.