In The Utility of Force, General Rupert Smith summarises the debate that occurred between the MOD and Foreign Office on intervention in Rwanda:
FCO: What can we do in the face of events in Rwanda?
MOD: What do you want us to do?
FCO: We ought to act. Something must be done. We can't have people being massacred. As a permanent member of the UN Security Council we cannot be seen to be doing nothing.
MOD: So you want us to use military force?
FCO: Yes.
MOD: To do what? To stop the killing?
FCO: Yes. Exactly.
MOD: Who do you want us to fight? We are not clear who is doing the killing: is it tribe on tribe, or is it a force found from a tribe? And Rwanda is a big country. Where do we start? Kigali, presumably, it's the capital and we'd want an air-head.
FCO: Well, there must be an international force, of course.
MOD: And what would be the British aim in joining the force?
FCO: To play our part as a permanent member of the UN Security Council.
MOD: Is Britain to lead the force?
FCO: No, it should be led by the UN - a proper UN mission.
MOD: That will take some time to assemble, so it will probably be too late to stop the killing.
FCO: Then the mission should be aimed at bringing post-conflict order.
MOD: OK. But we need to be clear how many British troops are currently available. Given our deployments in Ireland, Bosnia, and a few other places, not many.
FCO: What do you suggest?
MOD: What are our government's priorities? Is contributing to this force a higher priority than these other tasks we are already undertaking?
FCO: Probably not.
MOD: In that case, these UN forces always lack expeditionary logistical support. And if we want to speed up deployment of this force, offering a logistic unit would probably be the most valuable contribution.
FCO: Will that put our soldiers at risk?
MOD: Hardly any.