It's not at all clear that removing al Qaeda's leadership is a net improvement. A leaderless al Qaeda is potentially more chaotic and more indiscriminately viol

It's not at all clear that removing al Qaeda's leadership is a net improvement. A leaderless al Qaeda is potentially more chaotic and more indiscriminately violent; a diminished al Qaeda may simply create a vacuum to be filled by IS or some other group. A lot of this is reminiscent of the drug war. Taking out a kingpin looks like a victory, but it only creates short-term instability and a surge in violence. The root causes remain unchanged. How many people do you need to arrest to eradicate the drug trade? How many people do you need to kill to eradicate extremist ideologies? https://www.crisisgroup.org/global/exploiting-disorder-al-qaeda-and-islamic-state https://www.crisisgroup.org/global/exploiting-disorder-al-qa... https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/middle-east/2015-02-04/al-qaeda-loses-touch https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/middle-east/2015-02-...