Periphreal Effects of Going After Iraq

VDH on NRO today makes some excellent remarks that I hadn't considered about the positive effects of going after Iraq on the peripheries:

WMD deterrence. So it turns out that the emphasis on weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, and the subsequent effort to take out Saddam Hussein have had a powerful effect on such arsenals far beyond Baghdad. Without the removal of the Baathists, Libya would never have confessed to its nuclear roguery. Without the recent war, Iran would never have professed a desire to follow international protocols. Without the recent conflict, Pakistan would never have investigated its own outlaw scientists.

If we look at the side effects of going after Iraq, that alone may justify the war, albeit in hindsight.