Just to add to that point, there is a wealth of empirical research that shows that when it comes to complex peace-building operations, going right back to the late 1980s and early 1990s, the UN has had a much better track record than has any other actor or international institution, and there is a wealth of experience in the specialized agencies of the United Nations. Bear in mind that Mozambique, El Salvador, Namibia, and Cambodia are all UN operations, and they are, for the most part, relatively successful. I think it's probably also fair to say that if you were to rewrite the Afghan peace-building story and it had taken place under UN auspices as opposed to NATO auspices, we might have seen a very different outcome from the one we see now. There are a lot of people who believe that, including me.
On June 15th, 2010. See this statement in context.