Losing the Will to Fight Terrorism

The "Talking Points Memo": losing the will to fight terrorism.

Day after day after day, the left-wing media in America pounds home two themes — the war in Iraq is a disaster and the Bush administration approves of torture. Those are very simple themes. And they have taken root. The president's job approval has slipped. And only 37 percent of the Americans now feel the Iraq war is worth the cost in lives and treasure, according to a new CBS News/New York Times poll. And the latest FOX News poll has similar numbers.

The reason Americans are bailing on Iraq and are not engaged in the struggle to defeat terrorists is two-fold. First, President Bush simply does not articulate the reasons Iraq is important often enough. Should have press conferences every two weeks on this vital issue. And second, almost four years after 9/11, many of us are feeling safe again. The danger seems far away. We feel no urgency in confronting the terrorists, who of course, are still planning to kill us.

No country can win a war with the media constantly undermining it. During World War II, war correspondents were forbidden to even mention casualties until 1943, two years after the war began. U.S. atrocities against Germans and Japanese did happen, but were not reported. Any correspondent who did so was forcibly removed from the battlefield.

Vietnam changed everything. And now America has to fight its wars not only on the battlefield, but also in the press. And the press is usually against unilateral American action.

The Bush administration doesn't seem to understand that. The president, vice president, Secretaries Rice and Rumsfeld, and even U.S. commanders should be all over the media convincing Americans that what we're doing is right and necessary. But right now, the power to persuade lives with people who feel Iraq is foolish and coerced interrogation of suspected terrorists is morally wrong. Those people are winning the propaganda war. If that trend continues. The War on Terror will take a turn away from proactive confrontation. And only God knows what will happen then.

And that's "The Memo."

The Most Ridiculous Item of the Day

A new poll taken in France says relations between Americans and the French are not good, "pas bon." The poll says 70 percent of French citizens feel the USA is not a loyal ally, and 56 percent of Americans believe France is not a reliable friend.

We are among that 56 percent and are boycotting French goods and services, which is part of the reason the French don't like us. But we'll remember, we'll lift the boycott if French officials can point to one thing they're doing to help the USA in the War on Terror. So far they can't, which might be ridiculous.

C'est la vie.

By the way, "Boycott France" bumper stickers are available on billoreilly.com.

—You can watch Bill O'Reilly's "Talking Points Memo" and "Most Ridiculous Item" weeknights at 8 and 11 p.m. ET on the FOX News Channel. Send your comments to: oreilly@foxnews.com