O'REILLY: Hi, I'm Bill O'Reilly. Thanks for watching us tonight. Chaos in Afghanistan and Iraq, that is the subject of this evening's “Talking Points Memo.”
Over the weekend, while most of us were celebrating the heroism of those who have died defending America, some Afghanis were rioting and some Iraqis were killing civilians. In Kabul, a traffic accident led to this display, mostly young men who hate America causing trouble in the streets. All of this got major play in the U.S. media. And in Iraq, the CBS News team was bombed by terrorists. The cameraman and sound man were killed. Correspondent Kimberly Dozier badly hurt. She is now in Germany and is expected to recover.
The chaos in Afghanistan and Iraq will never end, because there will always be people who hate Americans, and we are an occupying force in those countries. The very important question is how do we as citizens process what's going on in those theaters of war? In Afghanistan, the Taliban are just waiting until we leave and will always be waiting. Whether the [Afghanistan President Hamid] Karzai government will ever be strong enough to defeat them is an open question. In Iraq, the terrorists will never stop bombing, no matter what government's in place. The situation will parallel Israel. Terrorism will always be on display. That's the truth.
Terrorism is here to stay. Muslim fanatics are not going anywhere. So what should the USA do? Well, the first thing is to be realistic. If we could go back to the fall of 2001, right after 9-11, you'd still have to invade Afghanistan. No way could the USA allow Al Qaeda to remain there. But Iraq should be a lesson learned. We cannot ever again put American boots on the ground in a hostile Arab country.
Iraq was an optional war. There will always be or there were other ways, I should say, of removing Saddam. That being said, the [Rep.] John Murtha [D-PA] solution of cutting and running would lead to greater conflicts down the road, as Iran would dominate the Gulf. Even though the headlines are bloody, the USA could well win in Iraq. Most experts believe the insurgents have been badly hurt.