ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the impact of the military intervention within government policies at home and overseas. The British deployment of its armed forces to Sierra Leone in May 2000 was one of the few successful uses of the military by the Blair administration. The Sierra Leone experience had a number of consequences for government policy. The apparent success of Sierra Leone also encouraged the Blair government to continue its African emphasis and work continued to promote good governance, alleviate debt and bring an end to the continents various wars. As the US sponsored Northern Alliance started to successfully push the Taliban out of Afghanistan it was the Blair government that argued that the international community needed to support the changing situation in Afghanistan, prevent humanitarian disaster many feared and begin the process of rebuilding Afghanistan. The Sierra Leone highlighted problems with British government which were not addressed and which continue to beset it in the conduct of military operations today.
