Romeo Dallaire was a massively humane and brave hero, and even lost his sanity due to the things he witnessed in Rwanda. The UN provided no back-up at all and he battled on, hopelessly outnumbered, for the sake of the beleaguered people he was trying to protect. Can anyone enlighten me as to the official function of the UN? When they arrive in a country, what exactly is their brief? In all the conflicts involving genocide, civil war, ethnic cleansing etc etc they just seem to stand and watch.