Obviously, the Security Council provided the international legitimacy through the 1970 and 1973 resolutions upon which NATO acted. NATO does not require a UN Security Council resolution to act, because it is an international body, but in this case, it did provide the underlying legitimacy. I can also tell you that many countries would not have joined were it not that the UN had provided that basis for it.
From there, the North Atlantic Council provided me with a series of tasks. You've enunciated three of them. They were mainly the embargo, both air and sea, and the protection of civilians.
The NAC provides you with what task you need to do. They provide the rules of engagement. These are nationally approved, but they dictate to me what my rules of engagement are. They also provide target sets, what I can and cannot touch. They don't tell you which ones; they just tell you types. I had the North Atlantic Council provide that to me through SACEUR, the Supreme Allied Commander Europe. So the chain of command goes North Atlantic Council, through the military structure, which is under the Supreme Allied Commander Europe, Admiral Stavridis, and under him to the Joint Force Command, of which I was the deputy commander. Also created was a joint task force. That was my reporting chain.
I reported daily to my immediate commander. Weekly we provided an assessment up the chain, if you wish. Then monthly, a report went to the North Atlantic Council. But the relationship between the North Atlantic Council and the United Nations is a political strategic one that stays outside. I just fed them the information, but we provided it on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis.
Let me add one more thing, if you will allow me, because it's also the way we do business that we need to assess. What we were working on were 90-day mandates. And 90-day mandates may cause a lot of issues with the population on the ground. They were terrified that we would walk out after 90 days. My point, sir, is this: how do we balance a fear of a long commitment with an assurance that we'll be there for as long as it takes?
That's all I have to say.