Guardian:British believe Bush more dangerous than Kim Jong-il

[cal04]

· US allies think Washington threat to world peace
· Only Bin Laden feared more in United Kingdom



America is now seen as a threat to world peace by its closest neighbours and allies, according to an international survey of public opinion published today that reveals just how far the country's reputation has fallen among former supporters since the invasion of Iraq.

Carried out as US voters prepare to go to the polls next week in an election dominated by the war, the research also shows that British voters see George Bush as a greater danger to world peace than either the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-il, or the Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Both countries were once cited by the US president as part of an "axis of evil" but it is Mr Bush who now alarms voters in countries with traditionally strong links to the US.

The survey has been carried out by the Guardian in Britain and leading newspapers in Israel (Haaretz), Canada (La Presse and Toronto Star) and Mexico (Reforma), using professional local opinion polling in each country.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,1938434,00.html

[oblivious]

1. I've never quite understood why so many people call Kim Jong Il 'crazy'.

Supposed weirdisms
- likes Hollywood films like Firday 13 and Rambo
- has directed his own movies
- bicycle racing fan
- NBA fan
- fear of flying
- womanizer
- short (5'3")
- platform shoes
- bouffant hairstyle
- country has developed nukes
- spends too much on military while some people starve

Kim Jong-il: crazy or crazy like a fox?

...There's either a method to Kim Jong-il's madness, or it's just madness. The answer depends on who you ask.

..."This is not a crazy or deluded man. He has shown how shrewd he can be," Michael Breen, a commentator and author on North Korea, told Agence France-Presse earlier this year.

"The myth in the outside world is of this totally weird playboy. The real man is politically very shrewd. He has that North Korean skill of playing a weak hand well."

...But people who have dealt with him warn that those who focus on these eccentricities risk missing more important sides of his personality.

"He didn't appear to be a cold-minded theoretician, but a very sensitive personality who had a sharp mind," former South Korean president Kim Dae-Jung said in 2000 after meeting with Mr. Kim.

...Mr. Kim was famously dubbed "loathsome" and a "pygmy" by U.S. President George W. Bush, who also included North Korea in his "axis of evil" during a 2002 speech.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20061010.BOMBKIM10/TPStory/TPInternational/Asia/