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But somewhere in the prison system of Moammar Gadhafi, held in solitary confinement for almost four solid years now, Libya's leading democratic dissident is reportedly dying - 66 years old, too weak to speak, his skin discolored, his legs swollen.

But, increasingly, polite diplomacy of exactly the sort Bush decried has been creeping back into America's dealings with tyrants. The template has been Libya. What began in 2003 as America's diplomatic triumph of persuading Gadhafi to peacefully give up his nuclear bomb program has morphed into a policy in which the welcome mat just keeps unrolling for Gadhafi.

When the Bush administration reached its deal with Gadhafi in late 2003, Eljahmi had already spent more than a year as a political prisoner in Libya. In early 2004, at the request of Sen. Joe Biden, then visiting Tripoli, Gadhafi in an apparent show of good faith released Eljahmi. Bush praised this move, mentioning Eljahmi by name, and saying, "We stand with courageous reformers."