Libya’s ruthless dictator Moammar Gadhafi may no longer be around, but it’s worth recounting a prediction made shortly before his death. In March 2011, Gadhafi said, “If, instead of a stable government that guarantees security, these militias linked to Bin Laden take control, the Africans will move en mass towards Europe. The Mediterranean will become a sea of chaos.” Last weekend, an ISIL franchise beheaded 21 Christians in Libya, and Italy is wondering how much longer until ISIL moves onto its shores. There’s no denying Gadhafi was a despicable human being whose savagery was on par with other Middle Eastern dictators. But if there’s anything he did accomplish, it was quash terrorism – when he wasn’t the one perpetrating it – and prevent jihadis from establishing a safe haven. Today’s Libya is in tatters and may fall under an even worse regime as ISIL marches west. Is this the Arab Spring of which the Obama administration dreamed? More…

Addendum: David Harsanyi observes, “Turns out that democratic impulses can also lead to darkness. There is no Gadhafi regime, but there is anarchy, a fertile recruiting ground for terrorists and a country where Coptic Christians can be executed without too many hassles and American consulates can be sacked without any repercussion – all of it enabled, in part, by the president’s unauthorized war (and Congress’ implicit approval of that war), which was meant to help facilitate democracy. … Democracy can’t work now. Three reasons: 1) In an open political environment, extremists will always be willing to resort to violence to grab power. 2) Institutions tasked with protecting society from that extremism will no longer be ‘democratic’ once they react. 3) The populace doesn’t have any real desire for a secular democracy anyway.”