Multinational Force Contemplated for Afghanistan: The focus of talks on the future of Afghanistan has shifted from the possible deployment of a U.N. peacekeeping force to a U.S. proposal to send a limited, multinational force that would provide enough security to establish an interim government, U.N. sources said yesterday. The idea of a multinational force, a "coalition of the willing," as a European official put it, is favored by the United States and Britain, the closest U.S. ally in the military campaign in Afghanistan.