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"The US cables, according to WikiLeaks, reveal how American diplomats have privately delivered caustic judgments on a number of world leaders in recent times:

On Vladimir Putin, Russian prime minister, and Dmitry Medvedev, Russian president, the US embassy in Moscow wired in 2008 that Mr Medvedev “plays Robin to Mr Putin’s Batman”.

Kim Jong-il, the reclusive dictator of North Korea, is described as a “flabby old chap” and someone who had suffered “physical and psychological trauma” as a result of his stroke.

Nicolas Sarkozy, French president is decsribed by the US embassy in Paris as having a “thin-skinned and authoritarian personal style”.

Silvio Berlusconi, Italian prime minister, is described by the US charge d’affaires in Rome as “feckless, vain, and ineffective as a modern European leader”.

Hamid Karzai, Afghan president is described by US diplomats in Kabul as “an extremely weak man who did not listen to facts but was instead easily swayed by anyone who came to report even the most bizarre stories or plots against him”.

Robert Mugabe, the president of Zimbabwe, is branded “the crazy old man” by Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, South Africa’s international relations and co-operation minister, according to a cable from Pretoria.

Muammar Gaddafi, the Libyan leader, is described as “just strange”, according to an adviser to Sultan Qaboos of Oman.

Binyamin Netanyahu, Israeli prime minister, is “elegant and charming” but never keeps his promises, according to a cable from Cairo. "
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