The Truth About 9/11 and the War in Iraq
Friday, July 23, 2004
By Bill O'Reilly
The truth about 9/11 and the war in Iraq, that is the subject of this evening's "Talking Points Memo." In just a few moments, we'll talk with the two men in charge of the commission, but here are the report highlights:
• Presidents Clinton and Bush were not guilty of anything but failing to perceive the extent of the Al Qaeda (search ) threat.
• The CIA (search) and FBI (search) were incapable of stopping the attack because of chaos inside those agencies.
• The CIA didn't have good enough intelligence on the ground.
• And the FBI big shots didn't listen to their field agents.
Saddam did have a relationship with Bin Laden, but did not assist him in the 9/11 attack. Those are the headlines. And the committee recommends a new terror czar, approved by the Senate and reporting directly to the president, and much more intense high tech surveillance of U.S. ports of entry and terror suspects.
Now ideologues on both sides will spin the report. But "Talking points" believes it should be left alone.
Very simply, the commission did an excellent job. Page 66 of the 567-page report caught my eye. And it says, "In July [1998], an Iraqi delegation traveled to Afghanistan to meet first with the Taliban and then with bin Laden...Similar meetings between Iraqi officials and bin Laden — or his aides may have occurred in 1999 during a period of some reported strains with the Taliban. According to the reporting, Iraqi officials offered bin Laden a safe haven in Iraq. But to date, we have seen no evidence that these or earlier contacts ever developed into a collaborative operational relationship, nor have we seen evidence indicating that Iraq cooperated with Al Qaeda in developing or carrying out any attacks against the United States."
So put yourself in President Bush's position. According to the Senate investigation, Lord Butler's British investigation and Vladimir Putin, the intelligence assessments on Iraqi WMDs all said Saddam had them. That, of course, turned to be faulty, at least for now.
But Bush and Blair were told the WMDs were inside Iraq. They were also being told that Saddam had a relationship with bin Laden. Do the math. Would you, as president, let that scenario play out while the U.N. dithered around?
What if Saddam Hussein did have anthrax, gave it to Al Qaeda, and a month later San Francisco was attacked? What if President Bush had ignored the intel and a disaster took place? Well, you know the answer. Mr. Bush would have been driven from office and gone down in history as a villain.
Any fair-minded person knows that the president had to act. The remaining legitimate questions concerned the timing and the planning of the Iraq action.
So there you have it — truth is always a good thing.
And that's "The Memo."
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,126764,00.html
Hating America
Friday, July 09, 2004
By Bill O'Reilly
Hating America. That is the subject of this evening's "Talking Points Memo." According to a new poll, 40 percent of Canadian teenagers think America is an evil country. Among French-Canadian teens, the number jumps to 64 percent. Those numbers can be laid right on the doorstep of the Canadian media and government
As you may know, the FOX News Channel is not allowed in Canada, but CNN is. Fair and balanced? You decide.
The USA takes a relentless pounding from many Canadian news organizations and from the liberal government. So, what can we expect from the kids? They're not getting a full picture. And neither is most of the world.
Increasingly, the bully America is being portrayed as the devil. And the far left in this country is gleefully piling on. Guys like Michael Moore [are] running around the world telling everybody what a bad place America is. Moore and his enablers should be very proud of themselves
For the benefit of the Canadian kids, let's take a look at the record:
•The foreign and defense policies of Ronald Reagan (search) resulted in the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the freeing of approximately 122 million people in Eastern Europe.
• The state of Israel would cease to exist if not for American protection, and about 5.5 million Jews would be in grave danger.
• Nearly 23 million Taiwanese would be denied freedom if not for American protection. More than 48 million South Koreans would be living under a dictatorship if not for American protection. USA action led to the removal of the Serbian dictator Milosevic (search), who was responsible for the murders of hundreds of thousands of people in the Balkans.
• The USA and Britain removed the Iraqi dictator Hussein, who was responsible for the murders of hundreds of thousands of people in the Middle East. And we have also removed the terrorist Taliban government in Afghanistan.
• America is sending $15 billion to Africa to help victims of AIDS. We were unable to find out how much France contributes, if anything. To be fair, Canada sends $270 million, which is substantial.
• American action in Central America, Grenada (search), and Haiti (search) has kept millions of people out of totalitarian regimes. Of course, all of this has cost every American taxpayer big. And thousands of American servicepeople have lost their lives protecting people overseas.
It is insulting and dishonest for Americans and Canadians and Europeans to condemn this country because they don't like certain policies. Dissent is good. Slander is unacceptable.
The truth is that the USA has freed more human beings in 230 years than the rest of the world combined. France has freed almost no one. Ditto Canada.
So, pardon me as I object to the Michael Moores of the world — and that man is too cowardly to come in here, all right? Pardon me as I object to the anti-American foreign press and bums like Chirac in France and Chretien in Canada.
America has a provable history of freeing oppressed people all over the world in fighting evil dictators. Canada should be ashamed that so many of its young people are flat out ignorant. And Americans should wise up and realize we are living in a changing world. Old friends are not necessarily true friends.
And that's "The Memo."