Please, spare me any dread over this goofy dictator's hopefully looming and well-earned demise. Muammar Qaddafi has had over four decades to do right by his country and he ranks right up there with old-man Castro as one of the worst leaders ever to keep a people down. Team Obama should have zero qualms on this one, no matter what any of our alleged allies in the region may say, because if they're worried about additional contagion reaching their kingdoms, they know damn well what needs to be done. Here's why you, Mr. and Mrs. American, should cheer on this revolution along with your careful president.

1. All the usual bad signs are there, so why back a bad pony?

There's no moral upside to his survival. The details keep rolling in: Defecting military officers, that regime official at the UN ready to indict Qaddafi with "genocide," even creepy Silvio Berlusconi is backing away. All that Qaddafi has left is those willing to kill on his behalf, so even if he stays in power, understand that the killing and torturing will go on for months — even years.

2. Qaddafi's a serious nutcase, and has been for years.

He's insane. Our CIA classified him as "borderline insane" several years ago. If you need any proof that it's only gotten worse, let's just go to the tape from his last UN speech. You know what insane dictators do when the mob comes after them? They start whacking. They have their troops fire on as many unarmed protestors as they can. They tell their air force pilots to missile them from the air. They import foreign mercenaries just to increase the body count (and the wider sense of terror). What they never do is start the necessary reforms, so the only way ahead is... This guy's head. On a platter.

3. This is another expectations revolution, so let's please stay on history's side.

Globalization is all about connectivity leading to opportunity leading to wealth creation. Qaddafi gave up his nuclear program just over seven years ago and had all the international sanctions lifted a couple years later. And what has been the result? Bit of an oil boom with Western firms (BP, Exxon, Mobil) jumping in, but nothing for the little people, one-third of whom live in poverty and half of which are under 25. The guy is sitting on the lightest, sweetest crude in the world and he's done nothing but pad his Mubarak-plus fortune and blow countless dollars on white elephants. The last Heritage Foundation economic freedom index put Libya at 173, just above such nightmares as Burma, Venezuela, Cuba, Zimbabwe and North Korea. I don't care what you label the "axis." Let's just be happy when one of these assholes gets it in the end.

4. Qaddafi was never our man and never will be.

Qaddafi finally bought his get-out-of-jail-card many years after his Lockerbie air-terror mass murder, and some naïve observers have labeled him an "efficient, if laid-back autocrat," but he's never lived up to the alleged promise of a Bush-Cheney "success story" for having given up his WMD. No one at State can come up with a single thing he's ever done for us, so America owes him nada.

5. Please, do not sell us his "reformer son."

It's the great white lie of the region, and we fall for it every time: "Yes, the old man is bad, but the son — my goodness! He was educated in Europe and likes American movies and jazz. Have you heard him speak on the need for reform?" And then, when he finally gets into office, nothing happens. The kid is just as woven into the fabric of corruption and abuse of power as the old man was. Listen to Saif al-Islam already promising to fight to "the last bullet." Even if he is a wannabe reformer, imagine how long it takes him to pay that bill off to the killers.

6. We must think of the stability of global oil markets!

Bullshit. Libya exports 1.1 million barrels of day in a single integrated global market that runs about 35 mbd, so we're talking a whopping 3% at best. Saudi spare capacity is officially 1.5-2.0 MBD (or: million barrels per day), but truth be told, it's significantly higher if need be. If the royal family wants to keep its crown, then let's agree it's a need be. As for the short-term price spike, please! We should be happy to spare a few bucks to spare some lives. Better argument: think about how much more oil will be found in poorly surveyed Libya after the place really opens up.

7. We must think about the al-Qaeda threat in North Africa!

Libya has got 300 AQ fighters in lock-up, long after their sentences were served. We're led to believe this is a great service to the world. But look at it this way: The world adds 70 million to its emerging middle class each year, most of them in emerging and frontier markets. Should we be in the business of keeping 6 or 7 million Libyans unfree out of the fear of what this crew could do? Freedom House lists Libya as its "worst of the worst" on political rights and civil liberties. That reality defines al-Qaeda's power in the region. By definition, Qaddafi is a major al-Qaeda enabler. On this one I say, Leave the gun. Take the cannoli.

Esquire contributing editor Thomas P.M. Barnett is the author of . For his weekly video bulletins for Wikistrat, click here.

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