I'd be delighted to answer that, because I always use East Timor as an example, and Somalia. Both of those were subcontracted. The UN was up to here in the crap in East Timor until it turned to the Australians and said, “Would you please take up a leadership position, and command and control this mission,” and bang, it worked.
People forget that the American intervention in Somalia was one of the most successful interventions in the history of the UN. When the American troops arrived on the shores of Mogadishu, the media was there to greet them. That's because Aidid and Mahdi, the warlords, had buggered-off, because the Americans came in with lots of force.
When it became an election issue, and Bill Clinton withdrew the force, leaving a modest force behind, commanded by a classmate of mine from the U.S. army war college, the force commander there, the Turkish three star, asked to see me when I was there reporting for CTV. He said, “I've been left here with nothing. What the hell is going on? I can't deploy my reserve”—the American force—“without the permission of the American deputy commander who reports to me.” But in the initial stages, the American-led chapter VII intervention was unbelievable.
So, subcontract to somebody rather than trying to run the show from Manhattan, the building in downtown New York.
