An intense manhunt will ultimately net the US' No. 1 enemy, Osama bin Laden, but there is no telling how long the hunt might take, the chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff said during a visit to Afghanistan.
General Richard Myers denounced bin Laden's latest taped message, saying its barbarity was a reminder that US forces are involved in "a fight for freedom and civilization."
PHOTO: REUTERS
Two and a half years after their al-Qaeda group organized the deadliest terror attack in history, bin Laden and his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri, are still at large and believed hiding in the craggy mountains along border dividing Pakistan and Afghanistan. A dragnet involving thousands of troops has also failed to track down Taliban leader Mullah Omar or renegade Afghan warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar.
Catching the men is considered a top priority and would be an enormous boost to US President George W. Bush ahead of the November elections in the US -- the reward for information leading to bin Laden's capture was recently raised to US$50 million.
Myers insisted during his visit Friday that he has not grown frustrated at the military's inability to locate bin Laden and his deputy, or at the terror leaders' success at smuggling anti-American audio messages out from their hiding places.
"We will be successful against al-Qaeda and their leadership, but I'm not going to put a timeline on it, because I just can't tell you," he told reporters at Kabul airport before departing. "One or two people hiding in very tough terrain where they have either paid for their security or have sympathizers ... this is very difficult work."
Buoyed by the capture of Saddam Hussein in Iraq, the US military had boasted in January that it was sure it would catch the al-Qaeda chiefs by the end of the year. It backed off those predictions last weekend.
In the past month, Washington has ordered 2,000 Marines to Afghanistan to beef up a US-led force that had already numbered 13,500 soldiers -- taking troop strength to the highest level it has been since the ouster of the Taliban at the end of 2001. The forces, from the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit, have been arriving since late last month.
The military has vowed a sweeping spring offensive to crush remaining Taliban and al-Qaeda holdouts ahead of Afghan presidential and parliamentary elections scheduled for September. Myers said the election, and an anticipated uptick in terrorism during the spring thaw, were the main reasons for bringing in the Marines.
He said he did not feel any additional troops are needed in Afghanistan or Iraq.
In the audio tape, which the CIA has said appeared to be authentic and recorded in the past week, bin Laden offered European nations a truce if they pull troops out of Muslim countries -- and threatened violence against the US and Israel.
Myers said the tape "just reminds us once again what kind of extremism we are up against, and it is useful to have a reminder every once in a while about the type of threat we face and how serious it is to those who want to live in a free and democratic environment."
"This is really a fight for freedom and civilization in many respects," he added.
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