He tends to see his personal survival as the only important consideration, and as the equivalent of saving the “nation”. The population is starving because of his decisions, but he doesn’t seem to notice or care.

OK, OK; it’s my typical juvenile humor. But think about it: we already know that Bush lied, and somehow convinced some of our intelligence sources to lie, or at least wink at a lie, about whether Iraq had or proactively sought components of or materials for nuclear weapons, and that Bush did so as an obvious motive for propelling the U.S. into a war that had no positive consequences for our security. How can we not imagine that he might do it again?

Kim Jong Il is clearly a madman, and I’ll even concede he’s a dangerous madman. But I’ve seen no evidence that his irrationality extends to assuring his own and his country’s immediate destruction. In the classic formulation, he’s crazy but not stupid. What about our own dangerous madman? How far is he willing to go?