President Barack Obama called the death of Afghan Taliban chief Mullah Mohammad Akhtar Mansour in a U.S. drone strike in Pakistan this weekend "an important milestone." Afghan President Ashraf Ghani's administration hailed Mansour's death as a potential turning point in his war-wracked country.
The death of the top gun of an organization that has blown up so many innocent Afghans--and American soldiers--is indeed a significant moment. Still, the enthusiasm shared by Obama and Ghani needs to be tempered. Mansour's death is neither a milestone nor a turning point. The Taliban may have a leadership void now, but so does the Afghan government in Kabul.
Afghanistan isn't getting fixed any time soon. After more than 14 years of war with the U.S., NATO and a tenuous Afghan army, the Taliban retains a strong presence in parts of the country, particularly in the south.
Militancy, particularly the Taliban's brand of it, continues to flourish in Afghanistan in part because Afghans have yet to be given a reason to not support the Taliban. Particularly in the south, Afghans feel they get more justice, and more security, from the Taliban rather than from Kabul and its security forces.
Taking out the extremist group's leaders, while necessary, isn't going to sway Afghan citizens to pledge loyalty to Kabul. Giving them a normal way of life will.
At the root of Afghanistan's dysfunction is a government that has balked at unifying and failed at providing the basics every society needs--good schools, employment and especially enduring security.
Despite years of promises of reform, corruption still threads through every level of society. The economy remains on life support. And probably most telling: Thousands of young Afghans have fled their homeland for Europe in the past year, an ironic twist given the billions of dollars that European countries have poured into Afghanistan in economic and military aid.
There's no indication that Mansour's death will lead to Taliban acquiescence to peace talks. And rest assured, the Taliban aren't likely to be leaderless for very long. Militant groups have a knack for having successor candidates groomed and queued up, ready to assume power when a chief dies. The Afghan Taliban shouldn't be any different.
It shouldn't matter who succeeds Mansour. The key to success in Afghanistan entails giving Afghans a rock-solid reason to back the government in Kabul rather than the Taliban. That will happen only when Kabul gives Afghans confidence that it can effectively build and manage the economy--and keep its people safe.
We applaud Washington's effort to decapitate the Taliban. But President Obama would have more reason to boast if U.S. involvement was yielding a more stable Afghanistan.
Editorial on 05/25/2016