Munich  - NATO must develop a "wartime mentality" in its operation in Afghanistan and move away from its current bureaucratic system, Britain's Defence Minister said Sunday.

"I want more of a wartime mentality and less of a peacetime culture" which is characterized by "bureaucracy and prevarication," John Hutton told the prestigious Munich Security Conference.

The NATO mission in Afghanistan, which is locked in a fierce struggle with a resurgent Taliban, is "not an aberration ... these are the nature of future security operations, and I don't believe we are properly preparing for it," he said.

A number of top leaders including Afghan President Hamid Karzai and US National Security Advisor James Jones said in the debate on Sunday that the international community must broaden its efforts in Afghanistan to build up the local police and army, fight the drugs trade and win the support of neighbours such as Pakistan and Iran.

Hutton said that that was the "right strategy" for Afghanistan, but that the question was "whether we believe we have assembled the right resources to deliver - and my view is that we don't."

"We need stronger force levels ... We need better governance and the collective will to make that happen," he said.

Britain has the second-largest contingent in the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force, with almost 9,000 soldiers in a total force of 55,000. dpa