In his weekly address to the nation, President Barack Obama said Saturday that the joint military operation in Libya is succeeding and that his decision to deploy U.S. military firepower against dictator Muammar Qadhafi’s brutal regime saved lives.

By enforcing the United Nations Security Council’s resolution authorizing force to protect Libyans from a bloody crackdown, the president said, the U.S. and the international community have acted on a shared “responsibility” to maintain peace and security in the world.

“The United States should not — and cannot — intervene every time there is a crisis somewhere in the world,” Obama said. “But I firmly believe that when innocent people are being brutalized; when someone like Qaddafi threatens a bloodbath that could destabilize an entire region; and when the international community is prepared to come together to save many thousands of lives — then it’s in our national interest to act.”