Gen. Richard B. Myers denounced bin Laden's latest taped message, saying its barbarity was a reminder that U.S. forces are involved in "a fight for freedom and civilization."

Two and a half years after their al-Qaida 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 between 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 President Bush ahead of the November elections in the United States - the reward for information leading to bin Laden's capture was recently raised to $50 million.

Myers insisted 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 out anti-American audio messages.

"We will be successful against al-Qaida 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 International 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 U.S. military boasted in January that it was sure it would catch the al-Qaida chiefs by year's end. It backed off those predictions last weekend.

In the past month, Washington has ordered 2,000 Marines to Afghanistan to beef up a U.S.-led force that had already numbered 13,500 soldiers - taking troop strength to the highest level since the ouster of the ruling Taliban militia at the end of 2001. The forces, from the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit, have been arriving since late March.

The military has vowed a sweeping spring offensive to crush remaining Taliban and al-Qaida holdouts ahead of Afghan presidential and parliamentary elections scheduled for September. Myers said the election, and an expected 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.

The Marines are due to return to Camp Lejeune, N.C., in September. The unit is one of two rapid response outfits the Pentagon keeps patrolling the world's oceans year-round.

In the audiotape, which the CIA said appeared authentic and recorded in the last week, bin Laden offered European nations a truce if they pull troops out of Muslim countries - and threatened violence against the United States 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.

Lt. Gen. David Barno, the top American commander in Afghanistan, said Friday that fighting dropped off in recent weeks, perhaps a sign that the U.S. clampdown is starting to take hold.

"There is certainly less evidence of any offensive operations on the part of the enemy than we have seen historically during this time of year over the last two years," he said.

However, insurgents have still managed frequent attacks on Afghan soldiers, international aid and reconstruction workers and the coalition in recent months, leaving most roads in the south and east of the country too dangerous for travel.

Taliban insurgents launched an attack on Afghan soldiers near the Pakistan border in eastern Khost province, killing two soldiers and wounding two others, local Afghan military commander Gen. Khial Bas told The Associated Press on Friday. He said nine militants were killed in the exchange of rocket and machine-gun fire on Wednesday.

The United Nations and others have warned that the Afghan elections will fail if security cannot be improved nationwide.

In all, some 109 U.S. soldiers have died - 39 of them in combat - during Operation Enduring Freedom, which began in Afghanistan in late 2001. On March 18, two American soldiers were killed and two wounded when they were attacked by militia in a village near Tarin Kowt, some 250 miles southwest of the capital, Kabul.

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