Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said it was ‘too early to tell’ what Karzai and other leaders have done to address the issue, underscoring persistent tensions between Washington and the Kabul-based government on the issue.

"There have to be significant steps taken on the part of President Karzai and other leaders in Afghanistan to eliminate corruption," Mullen told an audience at Kansas State University in an address broadcast to journalists at the Pentagon.

"It's not going to go away overnight," he said of the corruption problem. "But where it has not been addressed before, it is being addressed now, and we can't move forward in a positive way unless it continues to be."

"He was duly elected by his people and he now has to perform in this area," Mullen said of Karzai. "The military aspect … cannot succeed without success in other areas," he added.

Reuters