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Mullen: No discipline likely in airstrike

WASHINGTON — U.S. special operations forces in Afghanistan need more precision weapons systems to better avoid unintended civilian deaths, a top military officer told Congress on Thursday.

The warning from U.S. Special Operations Command leader Adm. Eric T. Olson came as the Pentagon’s top military officer revealed that he does not believe discipline is warranted in the recent U.S. bombing in Afghanistan that killed dozens of Afghan citizens.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates acknowledged that the accidental killing of civilians in Afghanistan has become one of the military’s greatest strategic problems in the faltering war.

Pentagon officials are preparing to release their investigation into the May 4 bombing that was aimed at Taliban militants but also killed civilians. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, told a Pentagon press conference Thursday that he has seen nothing in the investigation that would call for disciplinary action against the U.S. forces involved.

Mullen added that the complex, seven- to eight-hour fight, which stretched from daylight to dark, revealed gaps in the chain-of-command and some training shortcomings that military leaders plan to address. At the same time, he said he is satisfied that U.S. forces involved in the battle were sufficiently sure of their targets and believed that civilians would not be injured when they fired.

On Capitol Hill, Olson told the Senate Armed Services subcommittee on emerging threats that his elite forces need a smaller, lighter aircraft that can operate in remote areas where the runways are not as developed. The gunships they have now, he said, “are insufficient to meet our need for guided munitions that minimize unintended deaths and damage.”

Olson added that as the Obama administration pours more troops into Afghanistan, special operations forces will still be short of the helicopters they need to get around the vast country, where they are hunting terrorists and training Afghan forces.

About 85 percent of the special operations forces deployed overseas are in the Iraq and Afghanistan war zones and the surrounding region. A small number are training Pakistani forces.

At the press conference, Gates says it will take another day or two before officials release their investigation into the Afghanistan incident.

According to Defense Department officials, the report calls for better training for air and ground forces to reduce civilian casualties that have undermined the counterinsurgency campaign. The recommendation on training and a second one urging a review of the use of air support are among a half-dozen findings in an unreleased report, said two officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the report has not been made public.