I don't know who Hasenfus is but would be interested in knowing.
But I think you're right on about McFarlane and Novak. It should have been quite obvious to Haq that the CIA wasn't interested in his little publicity trip. Even *I* would have figgered it out given that they were only willing to provide him with a cell phone and then only to track his movements. Still the guy ventured into a war zone with his little donkeys and what the heck did he expect? People get killed doing stuff like this.
And I don't give two sniffs about Novak's contention that the CIA was all interested in Haq and wanting him to make the trip. So they showed a passing interest which they evidently immediately dismissed. This is hardly to be interpreted as some sort of endorsement.
Novak's image has dropped considerably by my estimation by this load of self-serving claptrap.