U.S. took too long to cut Afghan casualties - Mullen

By Andrew Gray

KANDAHAR AIR FIELD, Afghanistan (Reuters) - The United States may have taken too long to cut Afghan civilian casualties but even junior troops now understand protecting ordinary Afghans is paramount, Washington's top military officer said on Friday.

After visiting military bases in southern Afghanistan, the scene of major operations by thousands of U.S. Marines and British troops, Admiral Mike Mullen gave an upbeat assessment of the prospects for success against the Taliban.

Mullen said he was pleased the Marines had not caused any civilian casualties in their push into the Helmand River valley over the past few weeks and British forces had reported very few in their simultaneous operation further north.

The issue of civilian casualties caused by U.S. and NATO operations, particularly air strikes, became a source of increasing outrage and frustration among ordinary Afghans and their leaders over the past year.

Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters travelling with him the lesson that civilian casualties had to be addressed had probably not been learned quickly enough.

"We did kill too many civilians," he said. "One is too many."

U.S. Army General Stanley McChrystal, the new U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan, issued a directive this month stressing the importance of avoiding civilian casualties and limiting the use of airpower against residential compounds.

Mullen said troops were clearly following that guidance in the current operations in Helmand province, a Taliban stronghold.