http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc ... an/307983/
This is from 2008:A deal with the insurgents constitutes another part of a withdrawal strategy. While becoming more organizationally formidable since 9/11, the Taliban have also modified their behavior. Mullah Omar has sent out a directive banning beheadings and unauthorized kidnappings as well as other forms of violent and criminal activity, according to both Al-Jazeera and ISAF officials. “In a way, we’re seeing a kinder, gentler Taliban,” said both Commander Eggers and General Flynn. Moreover, in working with the tribes in the spirit of Churchill’s Malakand Field Force, Flynn, the intelligence chief, went so far as to suggest that the insurgent leaders Jalaluddin Haqqani and Gulbuddin Hekmatyar are both “absolutely salvageable.” “The HIG already have members in Karzai’s government, and it could evolve into a political party, even though Hekmatyar may be providing alQaeda leaders refuge in Kunar. Hekmatyar has reconcilable ambitions. As for the Haqqani network, I can tell you they are tired of fighting, but are not about to give up. They have lucrative business interests to protect: the road traffic from the Afghanistan-Pakistan border to Central Asia.” Lamb, the former SAS commander, added: “Haqqani and Hekmatyar are pragmatists tied to the probability of outcomes. With all the talk of Islamic ideology, this is the land of the deal.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_bomb ... y_in_Kabul
Kabul Embassy bombing:
Imagine if a Clinton surrogate suggests say that "Hafiz Saeed" is "absolutely salvageable" what the BRF reaction would be.On 1 August 2008, United States intelligence officials said that the Pakistani intelligence services helped the Haqqani network plan the attack.[8] Their conclusions were based on intercepted communications between Pakistani intelligence officers and the perpetrators before the attack. CIA deputy director Stephen R. Kappes had visited Islamabad before the attack to confront senior Pakistani officials with information about support provided by members of the ISI to militant groups. The officials said that the ISI officers involved had not been renegades, indicating that their actions might have been authorised by superiors in the Pakistan Army. It confirmed suspicions that were long held, an 'aha moment'.
AFAIK, the "Haqqani is salvageable" public remark is around the same time Flynn is said to have improperly shared US intelligence with Pakistan's ISI.
PS:
This is from 2010, Pakistan's The Dawn:
http://www.dawn.com/news/541672/pakista ... fghan-deal
Pakistan trying to broker Afghan deal
For the record, by 2012, the US decided to designate the Haqqani network a foreign terrorist organization. The citation includes this:But officials tell Dawn that the US attitude towards the Haqqani network will become less intransigent with time. Pakistan is aware that the Americans are keen to begin withdrawal by July 2011 - the deadline set by President Barack Obama -- and in order for this to happen, Kabul will have to start a dialogue with some Taliban groups.
American officials have, on more than one occasion, conceded that at some stage the Taliban can be engaged provided certain conditions are met, such as cutting off ties with Al Qaeda and other foreign terrorist groups.
That this possibility does not exclude the Haqqani group is clear from the statements of officials within the US administration and military. For instance, US Central Command Director of Intelligence Major General Michael Flynn had been quoted by The Atlantic magazine as saying that Jalaluddin Haqqani was “absolutely salvageable”.
Karzai has in the past tried at least twice - in 2007 and 2009 - to woo the Haqqani group but to no avail. It even refused to attend the recent Kabul peace jirga. But since then Pakistani officials claim that the Haqqanis have been persuaded to talk to Karzai. The Haqqani network, which is operationally headed by Jalaluddin Haqqani's son Sirajuddin, is believed to have sanctuaries in Pakistan's North Waziristan region close to the Pak-Afghan border and is viewed as one of the most potent warring groups active in Afghanistan.
Though this group operates largely in the south-eastern provinces of Khost, Paktia and Paktika, allied forces have accused it of carrying out attacks in Kabul and Kandahar as well, including the one on the Indian mission in Kabul.
However, while military and foreign office officials are willing to talk about this initiative in off-the-record conversations, the official line from the Foreign Office remains ambiguous “Pakistan will continue supporting Afghanistan-led efforts towards reintegration and reconciliation.”
https://www.nctc.gov/site/groups/haqqani_network.html
Quite a record for a "salvageable".The Haqqani Network is responsible for some of the highest-profile attacks of the Afghan war, including the June 2011 assault on the Kabul Intercontinental Hotel, conducted jointly with the Afghan Taliban, and two major suicide bombings—in 2008 and 2009—against the Indian Embassy in Kabul. In September 2011, the Haqqanis participated in a day-long assault against major targets in Kabul, including the US Embassy, International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) headquarters, the Afghan Presidential Palace, and the Afghan National Directorate of Security headquarters. More recently, in October 2013, Afghan security forces intercepted a truck bomb deployed by the Haqqanis against Forward Operating Base Goode in Paktiya Province. The device, which did not detonate, contained some 61,500 pounds of explosives and was the largest truck bomb ever built. The group is also involved in a number of criminal activities in Afghanistan and Pakistan, including extortion, kidnapping for ransom, and smuggling.
PPS: I would like to know the basis for Flynn's "disclosure regarding the haqqani was in an effort to impress upon the Bakis about the reach of the US spying capabilities." How do we know it was something to do with an effort to "salvage" Haqqani?