McCain: Kim Jong Il in 'Warm Corner of Hell'

Far be it for Arizona Sen. John McCain to mince his words.

The Republican ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee said Monday the world is a better place now that North Korean leader Kim Jong Il has died, and suggested that the dictator is hanging out with Usama bin Laden, Joseph Stalin, Adolf Hitler and Muammar Qaddafi "in a warm corner in hell."

Kim is unlikely to get fond farewells from the West following his death over the weekend from heart failure, though House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers said he was more concerned with the chaos that may ensue from his departure.

"North Korea's recent history does not give me much reason for optimism, however, and the U.S. and our allies should be prepared for the worst," said Rogers.

But McCain, who was tortured as a prisoner during the Vietnam war, said China, North Korea's lone ally, needs to work with the U.S. to bring about a peaceful transition and a "unified, democratic and independent Korean Peninsula, which will be far more stable and beneficial for China and the world than a totalitarian North Korea ever was or will be."