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After the drone strike: No, the Taliban chief’s death isn’t a ‘milestone’

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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. What’s more, the Islamic State has established roots in eastern Afghanistan and is solidifying itself as yet another threat to the country’s immediate future.

There also are reports that al-Qaida, which turned Afghanistan into its home base in the lead-up to 9/11, is trying to make a comeback. The New York Times reported late last year that al-Qaida camps have been appearing in the country’s southern provinces.

Militancy, particularly the Taliban’s brand of it, continues to flourish in Afghanistan in part because everyday 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. Afghan civilian casualties reached record levels last year: According to the U.N., 3,545 civilians were killed in the war, and another 7,457 were injured — 4 percent more than the number of casualties in 2014. And in what is supposed to be the most secure place in the country — its capital — bombings maim and kill with horrific regularity. Last month a Taliban truck bomb outside an Afghan elite-force compound killed at least 64 people.

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.

In remarks given during his trip to Vietnam, Obama said the strike on Mansour was justified not only because of civilian and coalition lives the Taliban has claimed, but because as the group’s leader, Mansour persistently refused to meaningfully engage in peace talks to end the conflict. “The Taliban should seize the opportunity to pursue the only real path for ending this long conflict — joining the Afghan government in a reconciliation process that leads to lasting peace and stability.”

There’s no indication, however, 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, and there’s already talk of two leading candidates: Mohammad Yaqob, son of Mullah Mohammed Omar, Mansour’s dead predecessor; and Sirajuddin Haqqani, Mansour’s deputy and leader of feared Taliban offshoot the Haqqani Network.

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.

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