Top war commander says progress satisfactory in Afghanistan

Associated Press WriterWASHINGTON (AP) -- The top U.S. commander of the war in Afghanistan defended the military's effort on Thursday, saying, "We like the progress we have had up to this point.

"It is only those who believe this should be done in two weeks' time ... who are disappointed in this," said Gen. Tommy Franks, who heads the U.S. Central Command.

In his first appearance at a Pentagon news briefing, the Army general was asked about criticism that the monthlong bombing campaign has been "too timid."

"Absolutely not," Franks shot back.

"We are on our time line. ... I find our progress up to this point satisfactory," he added.

Both Franks and Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said the effort to topple the al-Qaida terrorist network and its Taliban protectors will continue unabated.

"This will take as long as it takes," Franks said, calling it a 24-hour-a-day effort. He refused to rule out the use of U.S. or allied ground forces in the battle.

"As we stand where we are now, we want to keep all the options open," the military commander said.

Without offering specific numbers, Franks said he believes that Taliban military forces have been torn "asunder." At a later point, he said those forces have had difficulty communicating and planning, but offered no other assessment of their combat power.

Franks said terrorist leader Osama bin Laden is not a focus of the military campaign.

"We have not said Osama bin Laden is a target of this effort," he said, adding that the main focus is on his al-Qaida terrorist network as a whole.

On Wednesday, Rumsfeld said U.S. airstrikes in Afghanistan have killed scores of Taliban and al-Qaida fighters. The terrorist network and its Taliban allies still have between 40,000 and 50,000 troops in Afghanistan, Rumsfeld said in a television interview.

Twice a day, he said, reports cross his desk detailing Taliban battlefield dead, from a half-dozen to 20 at a time.

The commandant of the Marine Corps, Gen. James Jones, said Thursday that the USS Peleliu, a large-deck amphibious assault ship in the Arabian Sea, had been "pulled off station" temporarily to perform a sensitive mission. He would not provide details but said the new mission was unrelated to the war in Afghanistan. An aide said the Peleliu would remain in the same general area to do its new mission.

The Peleliu is the flagship of a three-ship Marine Expeditionary Unit carrying 2,200 Marines. Another Marine Expeditionary Unit is afloat in the Mediterranean Sea and may be preparing to head to the Arabian Sea.

For the first time in the monthlong bombing campaign, Pentagon officials released a video Wednesday that depicted a human victim of the bombing. The fuzzy images from a plane's gun camera showed a figure emerge from a vehicle shortly before being obliterated by an American bomb.

In introducing the video clip showing the destructive power of the U.S. weapon, Marine Corps Gen. Peter Pace said it offered a "rather unique" view of the bombing campaign.

"You'll see two vehicles, one pull up next to another. You'll see an individual walk between the two vehicles just before a guided munition destroys both vehicles," said Pace, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

On the other side, Pace said, some anti-Taliban fighters are so dedicated they have charged on horseback against Taliban tanks. American special forces troops are helping some of the rebel groups with supplies, ammunition and tactical advice.

"These folks are aggressive. They're taking the war to their enemy and ours," Pace said, citing the horseback charges against Taliban tanks as an example.

So far, the al-Qaida casualties have not included the network's leader, bin Laden, Rumsfeld said.

"We'll find him," Rumsfeld said. "On the other hand, he could show up today, dead, and I'd be delighted. But al-Qaida would still exist."

Rumsfeld claimed Taliban forces are violating international law by putting troops and military equipment in schools, mosques, hospitals and other civilian sites to try to draw U.S. bombs to kill civilians.

"These people couldn't care less about international law," Rumsfeld said on PBS' "The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer." "They killed 5,000 people in the United States without batting an eye, and if they had weapons of mass destruction, they'd have killed hundreds of thousands."