Right from the outset, it was clear that one of the toughest tasks in the battle against the terrorists who slaughtered thousands of civilians on September 11th was going to be that of defining success. For a while, that point was obscured by another difficulty: that of achieving success of any sort in a primitive, unruly place like Afghanistan. Last week's heady days made success suddenly seem near, and even easy. The stand-off that followed, amid confusion about who would form a post-Taliban government and about Osama bin Laden's whereabouts, then punctured that euphoria. And rightly so: even if, or when, Mr bin Laden and the Taliban have been killed or captured, such achievements will still not amount to victory.
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