Right. Thanks, sir; that's a good question. I appreciate your invitation to provide my personal reflections. I'm always sort of careful when I do so, because I've fulfilled a number of jobs over the years.
When I was in Croatia, for example, as part of the United Nations force with the 2nd Battalion of my regiment I was a company commander, so I was seeing things from a very tactical perspective. We were in a very difficult environment, in particular the Medak pocket, where atrocities occurred. That has reinforced to me the absolute need for professionalism among military forces to prevent these kinds of things from happening.
At the same time, I was discouraged to hear the news of what happened to Mr. Gadhafi, as Barbara recounted. I was also very much encouraged to hear the public statements of the NTC on where they want to take their nation; the importance of the rule of law; the professionalization of their forces; and the language of unity and reconciliation in the statement on liberation day, Sunday, by the chairman of the NTC.
From my own personal reflections, having been through the experience in Croatia and seeing the ground in Libya, I'm hopeful. I really am. I think the Libyans, the National Transitional Council, and eventually the government they elect have to be given the opportunity and time to put those words into practice and be given the counsel that we have from the experiences we've had.
I would also say that it's a long process. We need to be prepared that it will go on for a time. When I was in Bosnia in the early part of the last decade, it took about four years before the police force in the particular cantons where I was situated was at a standard where it could go out and be a credible force in enforcing the laws of the country. So in terms of lessons learned that I've taken, we're on a journey here and we're only at the starting stages.
All the things Barbara has described about the challenges, and all of the programs that have to be put in place and managed through the auspices of a number of actors, are going to take time. In the initial stages--notwithstanding some stutters with things that happened on the ground there that everyone laments--the public statements being made are encouraging. For that reason I'm hopeful, as I'm sitting now at a strategic level.