Writing at the Atlantic.com, Matthew Yglesias draws a fine distinction:

French television asked Ahmadenijad what he meant about how Israel should be wiped from the map, and he replied: "Why are you worried? Where is the Soviet Union? It has disappeared, has it not?"

Now I think it's actually clear enough why one might worry about this, and I have no objection to anyone worrying, but it really is different from threatening to kill all the inhabitants.

Ready for some irony to kick off your weekend? The name of he book that Yglesias recently authored is "Heads in the Sand."