Sierra Leone: A case of mission creep?

An RAF Chinook over the Sierra Leone capital, Freetown

Sierra Leone was not the first test of Mr Cook's resolve - but it has proved one of the trickiest.

It wasn't just the shady participation of British mercenaries in the civil war which had crippled the country for years, and the subsequent questions about the involvement of our High Commissioner in Freetown: Towards the end of 1999, after a ceasefire between rebels and the forces of the democratically-elected President Kabbah, Britain sponsored a UN resolution for a peace-keeping force.

But the uneasy coalition between the warring parties soon crumbled. Vicious fighting broke out, and last May 600 British paras were dispatched to West Africa.

Foreign Secretary Robin Cook meets refugees from the war

But once they were there - they rapidly became a crucial element in preventing a new outbreak of hostilities between brutal rebels and the ill-organised army.

Long after the last British residents had gone, the force designed to protect them was still in Sierra Leone. What was their mission?

Rumble in the jungle

The question became even more pointed when an entire British patrol was captured by the notorious West Side Boys. The opposition spokesman, Ian Duncan-Smith, demanded more clarity.

On 11 September, Robin Cook tried to offer the definition of the British role that Ian Duncan-Smith had demanded.

Two weeks later, at the party conference, this ethical dimension to the Sierra Leone policy had been refined still further.

A UK soldier trains the Sierra Leone army

I spoke to Robin Cook after his speech, and put to him the accusation that Britain was still exposing its troops to risk, without allowing them to follow through the logic of their role.

Sierra Leone has from the start been keen to maintain Britain's involvement, especially since the multi-national peace-keeping force has proved less than impressive. Nor apart from the oddity of the hostage drama - which was resolved with no loss of British life - has anyone questioned the commitment and performance of the troops themselves. At present, we have several hundred troops on the ground. But what IS the object of the exercise?

So how does the Sierra Leone story of the last twelve months match up to the Labour Government's original foreign policy aspirations? I put that question to Professor Michael Clarke, Director of the Centre for Defence Studies at Kings College London.