UN action plan for Afghanistan

How the Taliban are defeated - possibly turning into a rebel force capable of disrupting any peace plan, along with Arab and Pakistani forces loyal to accused terrorist Osama bin Laden - will also affect discussions on possible peacekeeping or international force deployments. "We don't think a peacekeeping force is an adequate instrument at the moment, because first of all there is no peace agreement - there is not even a peace," says Vendrell. That option would take six to eight months to pull together - far too slow.

"We are now confronted with the need for some security force in Afghanistan," Vendrell says, so a "coalition of the willing, some international security force, could be put in place."

While the broad diplomatic brush strokes sound similar to those painted by UN and Western diplomats when they waded into Somalia in the early 1990s, planners are quick to point to a far greater commitment to solving this issue now, than was evident in Somalia, or in Afghanistan in the past.

One reason, he says, is recognition that Afghan suffering could have been eased "if the international community had not walked away" after the 1989 withdrawal of Soviet forces here. Another, Vendrell says, is that "the bin Ladens ... and the Al Qaedas of this world would not have found refuge, and would not have become the threat to international security" if the West had paid more attention.

Still, many issues remain that could stymie diplomatic moves. If the Taliban were to devolve into a guerrilla force and gain support from Pashtun tribal belt areas in Pakistan and Afghanistan, the result could be "very destabilizing" and a "danger that one should not ignore."

The shape of any troop deployment is unclear, however, and the wording of the UN Security Council resolution is vague. It "encourages member states to support efforts to ensure the safety and security of parts of Afghanistan no longer under the control of the Taliban" - phrasing that could, in theory, enable a country such as Pakistan to move into eastern Afghanistan.

"It has the potential to be a mess," says a diplomatic source in Kabul who asked not to be identified. The phrasing of the UN resolution is the "most incredible" regarding the use of foreign forces, the diplomatic source says.

While the Afghanistan mission does not yet involve the numbers of UN or multinational troops deployed in Kosovo, Bosnia, or Somalia, its political ambition is among the most far-reaching taken on by the UN in nearly a decade.

Progress on the military front could speed diplomacy. President Bush said this week that "the noose is beginning to narrow" for Mr. bin Laden, as the Taliban-controlled territory in which he can hide shrinks.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld cautioned, however, that "does not necessarily mean that the task will become easier. People can hide in caves for long periods. This will take time."

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