This week they said

“If Libya goes up in flames, who will be able to govern it? Let it burn..

"If Libya goes up in flames, who will be able to govern it? Let it burn . . . We will fight in every valley, in every street, in every oasis, and every town . . . We won't surrender again; we are not women; we will keep fighting."– Col Muammar Gadafy in an audio message broadcast on Syrian TV

 "It has changed me as a person, this war. I've seen death in front of my eyes. I used to be a normal Irish guy who would give everyone the benefit of the doubt. Now I put a question mark over every person I see. I have to be like that because this is a dirty war – you're walking through the city trying to secure it and make the people feel safe, and a sniper could hit you from anywhere. I'm hoping that attitude will disappear whenever I leave all this behind."– Hosam al-Najjair from Dublin, who works as head of security for the Tripoli Revolutionary Brigade, part of Libya's rebel forces

"There are over 600 American companies that have gone to Ireland because of the tax rate. Over 100,000 jobs. I want those 100,000 jobs back in the United States." – Republican presidential candidate Michelle Bachmann calling for a lower US corporate tax rate

"Quite frankly, they were a useless bunch of good-for-nothings."– Former taoiseach Bertie Ahern on members of his local Fianna Fáil cumann in the 1970s

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"I know Enda Kenny said the election result was a democratic revolution, but if so, only in the sense that Kevin O'Higgins said we are the most conservative revolutionaries ever."– Former junior minister Martin Mansergh on the Fine Gael-Labour coalition