Taliban Late to Pick Leader

There is something wrong with the news reporting the death of Mullah Omar.  They report it like he died yesterday or last week, when he has been dead for almost two years.

The New York Times and Wall Street Journal (among many) reported the election of Mullah Mansour, a well known terrorist, as the new leader.  His two deputies are from the Haqqani wing, better known by the U.N. as a terrorist organization.  We have to ask ourselves what took them so long.  They knew Omar was dead, but they chose not to elect a new replacement for him.  There seems to be very little advantage in that.

For sure, Mansour and the Haqqani network are pretty tuned into the goings on in Afghanistan and the region to the East.  Are we supposed to pretend they missed the death of a major leader like Omar?  No, they knew he was dead, but they intentionally didn't mention it until now.  They were putting off a selection because it was easier than making a choice among people who don't agree on how the Taliban should be operating.  That would cause a split in the organization, which is going to occur anyway.

In the terrorism business (and it is a business of mercenaries spending "donations" making a name for themselves killing school girls, adulterers, and anyone who associates with the U.S.) not everyone agrees on who should be in charge of all that money.  Those disputes are not settled by elections.  They kill off each other until one of them gets to move up.  The whole process is a lot like the Chicago mafia in the 20's and 30's.

So now, two years later, they make news by picking a new leader, when all they did was pick the de facto leader who might have been killed by one of his opponents, had he taken over on his own.  Being a terrorist is not a great life.  It isn't like being a CEO of a big business.  While a few CEOs might disagree, they will not have a car bomb put on their vehicle in the parking garage when a rival thinks he might have a claim to the job.  For two years, they didn't worry about it much, but let's hope they can start now.