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Psychological Profiler Calls Gadhafi 'Crazy Like A Fox'

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Libya's Moammar Gadhafi in 2007. (AP)
Libya's Moammar Gadhafi in 2007. (AP)

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is dismissing Moammar Gadhafi's  latest letter to President Obama, where he calls the president "my son" and implores him to end what Gadhafi calls "an unjust war."

He also told President Obama that a democratic society could not be built through the use of missiles and aircraft, even though, Gadhafi is using weapons against his own people.

It's strange missives like that, as well as Gadhafi's notoriously rambling speeches, that are the prime source material for people who specialize in psychological profiles of world leaders. It's called "at-a-distance profiling," and governments around the world use these profiles to make decisions.

We speak with Dr. Jerrold Post, a psychiatrist who directs the political psychology program at George Washington University. He started teaching after a 21-year career with the CIA, where he founded the Center for the Analysis of Personality and Political Behavior.

This segment aired on April 7, 2011.

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