A new American command structure was put in place this year to better coordinate missions by the C.I.A. and members of the Pentagon's Joint Special Operations Command, made up of the Army's Delta Force and the Navy Seals.
De le Vingne coordinates missions for MSF and oversees a facility in Brussels that trains volunteers heading for the affected areas.
Crosson added that the State Department is in charge of coordinating missions to rescue Americans, and can request the deployment of military personnel to assist with evacuations.
But even the International Committee of the Red Cross, which is helping coordinate the mission, started showing signs of frustration as it called on the rebels to cooperate.
A communications aircraft circled overhead to coordinate the mission and, according to one military officer, AC-130 gunships were on call to bring flying cannon to bear if the mission went awry.
Sue's job was to help coordinate a mission that turned out to be more complicated than the invasion of Normandy.
These commitments will not only make it easier to hold others accountable but also make it easier to plan and coordinate a mission if the Security Council authorizes one.
Rev. Mussi Zerai, an Eritrean priest who helps coordinate rescue missions for migrants crossing the Mediterranean, was also considered to be a contender, along with the imprisoned Saudi blogger Raif Badawi, who has become a symbol of the fight for freedom of speech.
Officials said that in addition to the unclassified strategy paper to be released by Mr. Obama on Friday, a classified set of presidential directives is expected to lay out the military's new responsibilities and how it coordinates its mission with that of the N.S.A., where most of the expertise on digital warfare resides today.
The British and the Americans, worried that Afghanistan was sinking beyond repair, conceived the position of a civilian czar who could coordinate the U.N. mission and the NATO mission and possibly bring some order into the chaos of the Arg palace.
