Analysis: 'Mission creep' in Sierra Leone?

A young Sierra Leonean pays tribute to the British military presence

By Defence Correspondent Jonathan Marcus

Military operations are surrounded by all sorts of uncertainty. But so far Britain's troop deployment to Sierra Leone, now backed up by aircraft, additional helicopters and Marines off-shore, has gone better than anyone might have expected.

What was announced as a simple evacuation operation for British and foreign nationals has turned into a much more fundamental effort to bolster the UN force on the ground and to buy time for additional reinforcements to arrive.

But this shift in emphasis was probably inevitable from the start.

The arrival of the paratroops and the despatch of warships sent an important signal to people in Sierra Leone

The first mission was to secure the airport at Lungi near the capital Freetown. This was achieved by a battalion of paratroops, who went in on their own, knowing that air support and an amphibious ready group organised around the helicopter carrier HMS Ocean were still some days sailing away.

If things had gone badly wrong, if the airport had been besieged by thousands of rebel fighters for example, then this additional force might well have been needed to extricate the lightly-armed paratroops.

Deterrence and uncertainty

But the arrival of the paratroops and the despatch of this flotilla of warships sent an important signal to people in Sierra Leone.

British troops on partol near the airport

Much has been made in the British press of alleged "mission creep"; the dangers of Britain being drawn into Sierra Leone's insurrectionary conflict.

Such reporting draws in large part upon the apparent lack of precision of Britain's goals - with its commander on the ground seemingly able to interpret his mission in the most liberal terms.

But this ambiguity - at least in public statements - proved to be one of the mission's fundamental strengths.

It is the old story of deterrence, which depends upon uncertainty as to how people may act; combined with an awareness of the certainty that they do actually have military means at their disposal.

A number of developments have been widely interpreted as examples of the dreaded mission creep:

• The use of British helicopters to ferry around UN troops and supplies
• The use of British special forces to provide up to date information on rebel movements
• The arrival of a small British patrol to secure the safe custody of the arrested rebel leader Foday Sankoh

But these actions can just as easily be reconciled with an operation played out within defined limits, even if these are not always clear to many outside observers.

Improvisation and the capacity to adapt to changing circumstances has to be the keynote of such operations.

Exit strategy

Of course the critical issue in all of this is the exit strategy. Having got the troops in, under what circumstances do you get them out?

The operation in Sierra Leone is being viewed in London as a test case

The airport is again the critical factor. It was obvious from the word go that once the British paratroops secured the airport they could not simply withdraw and leave it vulnerable to seizure by rebel forces.

The airport is needed to bring in additional UN troops as well as promised Nigerian reinforcements.

Britain hopes it will only need to stay for a few weeks yet. But the paratroops cannot pull out until there is a credible and effective military force that can take over security of this vital air-head.

Beyond that, while some British officers seconded to the UN force may well stay on in the country, it is essential for the British Government to be seen to be pulling its troops out of Sierra Leone in due course.

The operation in Sierra Leone is being viewed in London as a test case for Britain's post-cold war capabilities, and the government will want a clear-cut end to the mission when the time is right.