Just the latest dividend from Barack Obama’s foreign policy based on appeasement and weakness, or “smart power” as he calls it.

Fully aware of their connections to Al Qaeda but fearing no retaliation for its move, the Libyan government decided to release 88 terrorist detainees on a whim.

Libya on Thursday freed 88 Islamists with Al-Qaeda links from Abu Slim prison in Tripoli, an AFP correspondent at the scene reported.

“45 members of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) and 43 members of other jihadist groups were freed thanks to the efforts of the Islamic Foundation,” lawyers’ groups said in a joint statement with the Foundation, headed by Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi’s son Seif al-Islam.

Lest you think the Libyan authorities simply don’t buy the charges that the terrorists have ties to Al Qaeda, there’s this:

“Apart from the LIFG members, the other people freed were former Al-Qaeda members who were active in Afghanistan or Iraq,” Saleh Saleh Abdessalem, an aide to Seif al-Islam, told AFP.

So Libya fully understands the terrorist detainees that were freed had ties to international terror groups, including the one responsible for murdering 3,000 American citizens on September 11th. It just doesn’t care, you see.

Because what’s the worst that’ll happen? A strongly-worded statement from the White House? Or maybe Barack Obama will just head back to the United Nations to apologize for something else America did that Islamists see as evil. Welcome to the era of Hope’N'Change.

Does anyone happen to know if there’s a “Reset” button for this situation? Granted, it didn’t work with Russia where threats of pre-emptive nuking are now openly made, but since when have failed foreign policies stopped liberals from continuing to utilize them?

This situation absolutely calls for an apology from the United States and maybe a visit from Hillary Clinton to promise a new era of better relations. It’s the “smart power” thing to do.