The Haqqanis are cast as calculating players in the continuing business of “global jihad” and have gained notoriety for their spectacularly violent attacks in Afghanistan, many targeting American troops. Being enmeshed in a universe of groups and individuals along the Afghan-Pakistani border, some of whom have sought to carry out attacks in and against foreign countries, doesn’t help their image. But the view that they are an irreconcilable, rigidly ideological enemy should be questioned.

The head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, Michael T. Flynn, said in 2010 that the group’s leader, Jalaluddin Haqqani, was “absolutely salvageable” and open to reconciliation. Graeme Lamb, a former commander of Britain’s Special Air Service, has characterized Mr. Haqqani as being a pragmatist “tied to the probability of outcomes” and called Afghanistan “the land of the deal.”

In recent years, the Haqqanis and people close to them have made contact with Afghan, American and other Western officials. Ibrahim Omari (sometimes called Ibrahim Haqqani), a younger brother of Mr. Haqqani, met with American officials in 2011 in Dubai. Another more recent meeting seems to have taken place (without Americans) in Saudi Arabia.

To suggest that they are implacable foes also ignores the long history of pragmatism and political calculations that have informed the Haqqani leaders’ actions for 40 years. Mr. Omari worked together with the Afghan government in 2002, although his efforts to broker discussions eventually led to his being arrested and allegedly tortured. Since the Taliban were ousted in 2001, American policy has often rested on an overestimation of the West’s ability to understand the situation in Afghanistan, leading to poor decisions and ineffective initiatives that have frequently been self-defeating.

The current war effort relies heavily on drones and night raids in Afghanistan and Pakistan, but these tactics often increase radicalization and enmity. And the industrial-scale targeting of midlevel Taliban commanders in Afghanistan has led to the rise of a younger, more uncompromising generation of leaders. The designation of the Haqqanis as an F.T.O. will only erode America’s relationship with Pakistan and decrease the likelihood of Pakistan’s playing a constructive role in facilitating (or not spoiling) any reconciliation process.