Editoral-Terrorist watch list

That the US State Department has still not designated the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan as a ‘foreign terrorist organisation’ may seem astonishing. After all, whatever the legal and procedural steps involved, it seems inconceivable that any legitimate process for designating groups as terrorist organisations would not include the TTP on such a list. If it can be assumed that the Obama administration is dragging its feet on the issue — several senators wrote to Secretary Hillary Clinton last month requesting that the TTP be included on the State Department’s terrorist watch list — the question is, why? Some context here may help.

Despite the non-designation, the TTP remains the only Pakistan-based group that the US is militarily targeting, through drone strikes. Baitullah Mehsud was famously taken out by a missile fired from a drone and his successor, Hakeemullah Mehsud, is also believed to have been targeted. According to data compiled by the Long War Journal, nearly 30 drone strikes have targeted the sub-groups led by Baitullah, Hakeemullah and Faqir Mohammad. Moreover, according to analysts familiar with the issue, such action has been possible because the TTP is regarded by the US as a sub-group of the Taliban proper, known colloquially as the ‘Afghan Taliban’. Such designation means that the TTP is already exposed to the full array of legal measures that the US puts in place against foreign terrorist organisations.

Notwithstanding that explanation, there is still ambiguity on the American side. US State Department spokesperson P.J. Crowley gave what amounts to a non-answer when asked in a press briefing about the lack of the terrorist designation for the TTP specifically: “We are considering the question of designating the TTP and are following the procedures established in law … And we would expect to complete this process relatively soon and we would not see a legislative remedy here as being necessary.” Perhaps the US does not want to give the TTP a propaganda tool by giving it a separate identity or perhaps it may have complications for the drone strikes programme. Either way, the US government needs to clarify its position, otherwise, the conspiracy brigade here may have fresh ammunition.

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