By Ralph Dannheisser
Washington File Congressional Correspondent

Washington -- Despite major successes in the war against terrorism to date, the effort remains "still closer to the beginning than to the end," Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld says.

Rumsfeld made the comment as he testified on the war effort -- with special emphasis on progress in Afghanistan -- together with Army General Tommy Franks, commander of the U.S. Central Command, July 31 before the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Members of the committee, for their part, lauded Rumsfeld and Franks on what they too see as impressive successes -- but several senior members questioned whether the United States and coalition partners should not do more to expand activities of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), now limited to the Kabul area.

Committee Chairman Carl Levin (Democrat, Michigan) was the first to raise those questions, quoting U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan as saying that a limited expansion "would make a huge contribution to the consolidation of peace."

Asked for his views, Rumsfeld said that both he and the Bush administration believe that "the international security force is a good thing and that, to the extent countries are interested in expanding it ... that would certainly be a useful thing."

But, Rumsfeld said, "The problem is that no (other) countries are stepping forward to do that," and it would be inappropriate for the United States to take on the task because "our plate is pretty full."

"We feel that trying to stop terrorists from committing additional terrorist acts is our first priority, and our second priority is to support the existing ISAF, and our third priority is to try to train an Afghan national army," he added. "If people step forward, terrific."

But Levin urged the administration to consider offering added resources toward the ISAF effort, "particularly if it might result in other countries coming through with pledges."

Raising the prospect of severe instability in Afghanistan if competing factions outside Kabul are given free rein, Levin termed it "a huge issue" and added, "We don't want to win this war and then lose the peace in the sense of seeing a return to chaos."

Senator John McCain of Arizona, a senior Republican on the committee, strongly backed Levin's view.

McCain recalled that the Taliban came to power in Afghanistan when "we...turned our back" on the country after helping to drive out Soviet troops in the 1980s, because "the people preferred totalitarian government to chaos," and he urged responsible officials to learn from that history.

"Right now, outside of Kabul we are bordering to some degree on chaos. You mentioned yourself there are warlords fighting against one another, and we don't know what side to intervene on," he told Rumsfeld.

"The fact is we need to expand the peacekeeping force. We can't expect any other country to do it....We're the world's superpower. We have to step up," he declared.

On the issue of how long the Afghan component of the U.S.-declared war on terrorism may take, Franks -- who has commanded operations there -- told the committee that although Afghanistan "is rising from the oppression of the Taliban into an independent, democratic nation" and he is "optimistic about the future," nevertheless "much work remains to be done."

Pressed by Senator John Warner of Virginia, top ranking Republican on the committee, when he might consider the job finished, Franks was noncommittal.

"Sir, I'm not sure how long it will take us to work our way through each and every piece of the geography of this terribly compartmented country to assure ourselves, me and my bosses, that that work (of destroying the al-Qaida network) has been completed," he said.

"We're just going to continue...until we see ourselves able to put a check beside each component of the mission," Franks added.

After hearing from Rumsfeld on the broader problems of bringing stability to the country, Warner commented, "All of that indicates to this senator, and we'd best tell the American people, we're going to be there for a long time."

While Senator Max Cleland (Democrat, Georgia), opened his comments with praise for Rumsfeld and Franks -- as did virtually all his colleagues -- he swiftly became critical of what he suggested was a loss of focus in the anti-terror campaign.

"Mr. Secretary, for me, Operation Enduring Freedom has become Operation Enduring Frustration," Cleland said.

While "I think it's fine to nation-build or liberate Afghanistan," he said, "for me the frustration continues because we still haven't killed or captured Osama bin Laden and his terrorist cadre.

"Do you happen to know where he is?" Cleland asked Rumsfeld.

Rumsfeld responded with a variation on the formulation he has been using regularly in recent months. "The United States of American does not know where he is.... He may be dead. He may be seriously wounded. He may be in Afghanistan. He may be somewhere else. But wherever he is, if he is, you can be certain he is having one dickens of a time operating his apparatus," the secretary said.

But, Rumsfeld suggested, eliminating bin Laden may not be all that critical.

"He's important, but there are plenty of people -- six, eight, 10, 12 people, probably -- who could take over the al-Qaida. They know where the bank accounts are. They know the names of people who were trained. They know the sleeper cells that exist around the world," he said.

Thus, Rumsfeld suggested, the key task is not a manhunt for bin Laden, but rather a continuing effort to deal with the terrorists and "the countries that are providing safe haven to them."

This is being done, he told Cleland, and so, "You can be frustrated if you want. I'm not."