A Dictator Befriended
WITH ALL the emphasis it once placed on promoting democracy in the Middle East, it is striking that the Bush administration's most tangible legacy in the region -- outside of Iraq -- may be the restoration of good relations with one of the more toxic Arab authoritarian regimes. On Friday Condoleezza Rice became the first U.S. secretary of state to visit Libya since 1953; she had dinner with Moammar Gaddafi, sponsor of two of the most spectacular acts of terrorism against Americans and a cruel dictator in his own country since 1969.