CRANFIELD UNIVERSITY DAREN BOWYER JUST WAR DOCTRINE

willing to provide equipment support to others, they would not find the additional
necessary troops. Africa, more than any other region has suffered from this lack of
Western readiness to commit. William Shawcross, highlights the particularly stark
example of Rwanda:
The best recent example of the limits of non-violent humanitarian intervention in
stopping mass killing is the Rwandan genocide: the only realistic mean of
halting the genocide was military intervention but the refusal of Western states
to risk their soldiers to save strangers resulted in a million Rwandans being
killed. 42
Thalif Deen continues his criticism of the P5 thus: ‘The five permanent members, along
with most Western nations, are keeping away from most peacekeeping missions
primarily because they do not want their soldiers to return home in body bags. “Spilling
Third World blood is okay. But spilling P-5 blood is obviously a No-No”, says a Third
World diplomat.’ 43
Sierra Leone offers an example of more mixed Western engagement and, indeed, stands
as an example of just how successful a determined Western intervention can be. A UN
mission – UN Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) – was established in October 1999
to monitor and assist in implementation of the Lome Peace Agreement between the
Sierra Leone government and Foday Sankoh’s rebel Revolutionary United Front
(RUF). 44 The international community was slow to meet the UN's call for troops and in
April 2000, as the Lome Agreement began to unravel, UNAMSIL was significantly
below its mandated strength. Moreover, as has all too often been the case with UN
missions, the quality of those troops which had been provided was generally poor and
the force inadequately equipped. UNAMSIL had suffered several defeats in
confrontation with the RUF and their morale was low. The RUF was growing stronger
and taking advantage of weapons and equipment, including armoured personnel
carriers, captured from UNAMSIL. In May 2000, with the capital, Freetown, on the
verge of being overrun, the UK launched an intervention, initially with a limited non-
combatant evacuation (NEO) objective to ensure the safety of British nationals. This
small but effective military force, used decisively, re-established the authority of the
government and forced the rebels to all but give up the fight. 45 Yet later the same year,
despite the UK’s continued involvement, the UN mission was again endangered by the
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