Although George Bush and Tony Blair have talked repeatedly of making it a "vital" one, EU nations suspect the U.S. in particular of wanting to palm off the U.N. with little more than a humanitarian aid function.

CNN: Analysis: Battles ahead over U.N. role

But when the Canadian commander of U.N. peacekeeping forces in Rwanda desperately appealed for reinforcements to stop the killing, Washington, in particular, was not about to risk U.S. troops on another humanitarian mission in Africa.

NPR: Somalia: Decades of Unintended Consequences