Focus on killing head of Isis will distract from real threat

Delivering a fatal blow to terrorist leaders in an attempt to kill off the entire groups rarely has the desired effect and amounts to little more than militaristic box-ticking, writes Arie W Kruglanski

MANY believe that killing the leaders of terrorist groups such as Islamic State could change the course of events in Iraq and Syria.

Like the cutting off of a snake’s head, eliminating the chief of a terrorist organisation is assumed to deal it a fatal or near fatal blow. The US government, for instance, often boasts about killing major al-Qaeda leaders, and viewed such assassinations as a clear mark of progress in the global war on terror.