If, over the holidays, you find yourself in a conversation where someone tries to dismiss the notion that Libya's recent capitulation to justice was directly prompted by the Allies' trouncing of Saddam Hussein, keep this in mind:

Libyan leader Moammar Ghadafi made it clear that his decision to disarm was prompted by Operation Iraqi Freedom.

"I will do whatever the Americans want because I saw what happened in Iraq, and I was afraid," Mr. Ghadafi told Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, according to a Berlusconi spokesman who was quoted in yesterday's Telegraph of London.

Straight from the horse's mouth, as they say.

MORE ON KHA/KA/QA/GHA-DAFFI/DAFI: Bill Safire is restrained, and warns of premature euphoria to his "fellow Wilsonian idealists," though he comes across as a senior fellow of pragmatist pessimism. Believing in the power of freedom doesn't mean one is immune to anticipating challenges and sacrifices, Mr. Safire. Nor is anyone who isn't required to engage in diplomacy right now offering to shake Ghadafi's hand.

The Observer details some concessions of terrorist intelligence Libya made for movement towards gaining normalcy. How to look at partially rewarding a dictator for ratting on terrorists? This way: If we can't smite them all in one stroke, we may as well pit one strongman against the other.