Afstan: Overall coordination of various types of activities

It seems to me no coincidence that Mr Gates' statement below was made shortly after that of Mr Browne; there seems a definite diplomatic play going on with the UK the public lead:

1) UK defence secretary Browne:

Britain lobbied U.N. officials on Thursday [May 24] with a proposal for the world body to lead a comprehensive "campaign plan" for peace in Afghanistan, where NATO-led troops are struggling against Taliban insurgents.

Defence Secretary Des Browne said the United Nations was best placed to coordinate a peace-building effort he said had until now largely fallen on military commanders...

"An overarching campaign plan is required to develop all these disparate strands together. It has to be a strategic plan, not just a military plan," he said.

"The international community then needs ... to coordinate resources, ensuring coherence in what we do ... And this needs leadership. And in my view ... there is no organization better placed than the UN to take that role."

Browne said "a visible leader representing the international community" was also needed.

At present, he said, Afghan President Hamid Karzai spent at least 60 percent of his time in individual meetings with all 42 countries involved in Afghanistan. "If you want to see President Karzai you have to go and join the queue."..

2) US defense secretary Gates:

"One of my concerns is we have 42 countries and 12 NGOs out here and I want to find out if there's anyone really creating an overall strategy or coordinating their activities so that we can make the best possible use of the resources that are out here," Gates said.

"There's a joint monitoring board that's supposed to do that and I want to find out if that's in fact performing as we had hoped."..