US mulls putting Pakistan Taliban on terrorism list

[sabra]

Source: Reuters

WASHINGTON, May 11 (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department said on Tuesday it was looking into putting the Pakistani Taliban, the group tied to the failed car bombing in New York's Times Square, on the U.S. list of "foreign terrorist" groups.

Adding the Pakistani Taliban to the list would trigger punitive measures such as freezing assets tied to the group, barring foreign nationals with links to it from entering the United States and making it a crime to give any material help.

"It is something we are considering in light of what happened, and obviously the investigation will yield information that might give us greater clarity," State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley told reporters.

Crowley said there was a lengthy legal process before a group could be designated a "foreign terrorist organization" and he did not know when a decision would be made.

"We have been focused on this group for some time and, without being specific, we have been working with our Pakistani counterparts and we have taken appropriate action to diminish the capabilities of this group and others in the region," Crowley said, referring to military action to target Pakistani Taliban leaders.

...

Five Democratic U.S. senators sent a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Tuesday urging her to ensure the Pakistani Taliban was on the list.

"The Pakistani Taliban is a murderous organization dedicated to killing civilians, harming U.S. interests in the region and has even taken credit for terrorist acts committed on U.S. soil," the senators wrote.

Read more: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N11103576.htm

[JDPriestly]

1. I've seen so much of life, of under-handed trickery. I've become so cynical.

I wish that my cynicism weren't so justified by what I have observed in life. Oh, dear. Here we go again.

Pakistan is a huge problem. That's true. If you want to know why, you should watch the film, Earth by Deepta Mehta. It's available on Netflix and other video outlets.

[Robb]

2. Silly political move to capitalize on events.

Tehrik-e-Taliban are tied to Al Qaeda, and they receive the majority of their foreign donations through them. We already sanction and seize anyone we catch doing that, and we struck TeT with Predators http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-05/11/c_13287437.htm">just today.

I will point out I said "majority," up there, though. The message to Pakistan would be quite clear, although I expect they're getting enough of an earful on the matter.

[Flaneur]

3. Pakistani Taliban Mulls Putting US on Terrorism List

[nradisic]

4. WTF is there to mull about?

They are kidding right? It is the fucking Taliban!...and I don't care what country they are based in...Taliban are terrorists.....Geez....