And years after the blue helmets leave, the roads are still there, for reconstruction, development and daily life, for their own people.

UN: Secretary-General

The sheer number of blue helmets seems to have made the country safer.

ECONOMIST: Is this gravely wounded country finally ready for peace?

More recently, we played a key role in supporting the U.N. intervention - again, Blue Helmets in the Congo - and we paid 25 percent of the bill.

NPR: U.S. Non-Intervention In Syria Could Mirror Outcome In Congo

Why soldiers in blue helmets keep the peace in a new nation.

WHITEHOUSE: President Obama Speaks to the Australian Parliament

This is worrying, but most diplomats expect Sierra Leone's fragile peace to hold, thanks largely to the presence of 17, 500 United Nations blue helmets.

ECONOMIST: Intervention that worked | The