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U.S. commander says he's 'pleased with progress' in war

"We will remain in Afghanistan for the foreseeable future," Gen. Tommy Franks told a Senate committee Thursday.  


WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The military commander of the war against terrorism told the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday that he is "pleased with the progress" of the operation but added that "much work remains to be done."

Gen. Tommy Franks of U.S. Central Command said the war has helped Afghans to topple the Taliban and coalition forces to wound al Qaeda, the terror network accused of attacking the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11.

"There is no more" Taliban government in Afghanistan, Franks told the committee, and its fall makes it difficult for al Qaeda to operate freely in the country.

Senators praised Franks and his efforts. Despite this work, however, Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Kentucky, said that he thinks the military should do a better job of capturing al Qaeda leaders and operatives.

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"The harbor [for al Qaeda] is no longer there. The networks are not free to operate on their own terms," Franks said. "Terrorists themselves have been captured or killed. There are al Qaeda left inside Afghanistan, and they remain the subject of ongoing military operations."

Bunning, citing a news report that said many al Qaeda members had made their way to Iraq, asked that if "the brains and brawn" of the terror network concentrate their efforts in that nation, "are we ready to do what we have to do?"

Franks, admitting that many al Qaeda operatives have left Afghanistan, said he would leave a decision on Iraq to President Bush.

Asked if Iraq is a strategic threat, Franks said there has been no evidence that Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein has been willing to undo his weapons of mass destruction program since the end of the Persian Gulf War in 1991.

Franks said such a stance "is a great threat to a great many nations" and represents "a strategic threat."

He said efforts in Afghanistan "remain focused on gaining and exploiting intelligence" and disrupting "planned future terrorist attacks." This operation entails scouring the country to locate Taliban fighter pockets and searching "through each location for weapons of mass destruction," he said.

Franks said the coalition fighting terror has "benefited by the exploitation of a great amount of information already taken from sensitive sites and potential weapons of mass destruction sites."

"We haven't been through all of them in enough detail yet," he said.

Franks said that the military can't conclude that it has reached an "operational end state in Afghanistan as long as there is credible threat from puddles or pockets of al Qaeda or residual hard-core Taliban."

He said he is grateful for the popular U.S. backing for the fight against terror and noted the "overwhelming international support."

"The world feels as though it was attacked," he said.

The general was asked about a January raid in Afghanistan in which at least 15 people were killed and 27 were captured. Later the detainees were found not to be al Qaeda or Taliban members.

After the raid, local Afghans said the United States had made a mistake and the suspected terrorist compound it attacked did not contain enemy forces.

Sources said a U.S. investigation was undertaken not only because of those complaints but also due to after-action reports from commandos who led the raid.

Franks said the 27 detainees have been handed over to Afghan interim government authorities, who are treating them as criminals.

He said an investigation into the incident should be completed in two weeks. The investigation is focusing on whether U.S. forces killed or captured Afghans who were friends of interim leader Hamid Karzai's administration, he said.

Franks said the U.S. role in training and support for the development of police and an army in Afghanistan will continue, but he said future contributions by the United States and other nations to the international security force already there remain open to discussion.

"We will remain engaged in Afghanistan for the foreseeable future," Franks said.



 
 
 
 





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