"If a day comes when the world of Islam is duly equipped with the arms Israel has in possession, the strategy of colonialism would face a stalemate because application of an atomic bomb would not leave any thing in Israel but the same thing would just produce damages in the Muslim world."—Former President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani.

Recalling the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, leader of Iran's Islamic revolution, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said: "As the imam said, Israel must be wiped off the map."

'Do you even understand the Constitution?' Bachmann slams Obama as GOP contenders square off in South Carolina AP via DailyMail.co.uk Opening a tea party-backed forum in this first voting state in the South, presidential hopeful Michele Bachmann on Monday criticised President Barack Obama's understanding of the Constitution and pledged fidelity to the nation's founding document as she wooed the grassroots activists who could deliver her the GOP's nomination. {C} Bachmann said the 2012 presidential election would hinge on each candidate's understanding of the Constitution, which she called 'that sacred document.' Branding herself a 'constitutional conservative,' the former federal tax lawyer challenged Obama's understanding of his powers. U.S. Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann speaks during the American Principles Project Palmetto Freedom Forum in South Carolina todayShe cited Obama's political and policy advisers, whom she called 'czars,' the Justice Department's decision not to appeal a court's overturning of a federal marriage law, and his immigration policies.

By Jon Cohen and Dan Balz | The Washington Post Public pessimism about the direction of the country has jumped to its highest level in nearly three years, erasing the sense of hope that followed President Obama’s inauguration and pushing his approval ratings to a record low, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll. More than 60 percent of those surveyed say they disapprove of the way the president is handling the economy and, what has become issue No. 1, the stagnant jobs situation. Just 43 percent now approve of the job he is doing overall, a new career low; 53 percent disapprove, a new high. As part of a reinvigorated effort to regain momentum as he heads toward the 2012 election year, Obama traveled to Detroit on Monday for a Labor Day appearance that served as a prelude to his speech Thursday to a joint session of Congress in which he will unveil new proposals to create jobs. The urgency for Obama to act is driven not just by the most recent unemployment report, which on Friday showed no job growth in August and the unemployment rate stuck at 9.1 percent, but also by the depth of the political hole in which the president finds himself.