WASHINGTON — The commander of NATO troops in Afghanistan on Tuesday  said a Florida pastor’s threat to burn Qur’ans had done damage to U.S.  interests in the country even though the church minister did not go ahead with his plan.

In an interview with ABC News, General David Petraeus expressed regret  at the effect of the heavily-publicized threat from the Dove World  Outreach evangelical church to torch hundreds of Qur’ans to mark the  anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks.

“There has been some damage done,” Petraeus said.

“You’ve seen it. You’ve seen, you’ve heard of the demonstrations here  in Afghanistan — there are already in a sense images, if you will,  implanted in minds albeit not with photos of something as inflammatory as the burning of a Qur’an,” Petraeus said.

The general spoke out forcefully against the pastor’s plans last week,  warning that burning Qur’ans would jeopardize coalition troops in  Afghanistan.

The church’s Pastor Terry Jones abandoned the plan after pleas from U.S.  President Barack Obama, the Vatican and other world leaders.

But the mere threat of torching the Muslim holy book triggered riots and protests around the world, including Afghanistan, where two  protesters were killed on Sunday by Afghan forces breaking up a crowd of demonstrators.

Petraeus acknowledged that some in the Muslim world were inclined to  hold a critical view of the United States.

“Well, there are predispositions out there. In some cases, to be fair,  they are founded on other images — that are in cyberspace,” he said.

The general was apparently referring to infamous photos of U.S. soldiers  humiliating and mistreating detainees held in Iraq and reports of  similar incidents.

The United States had learned some “very, very hard lessons” and  “sought to take corrective action,” he said.“But again, there are predispositions. There are people who want —  who will use the platforms that they have — even religious platforms — to incite others and to inflame public opinion — in various  populations around the world,” he said.