Another Big Victory for Those Who Hate America

Whoever destroyed the interrogation tapes of Al Qaeda big shot Abu Zubaydah did not do America any favors. We simply cannot have CIA people destroying records without the knowledge of the boss. And former CIA Chief Porter Goss says he didn't know.

Now the man in charge, Michael Hayden today says nothing illegal was done, but come on. If something is sensitive, you classify it. You don't destroy it, especially if interrogation is involved. I mean, how dumb is this?

People who hate America now have another hammer —The USA is a torture country. American intelligence is a guess gestapo and on and on. You can hear the screaming all the way to Iran.

And speaking of Iran, when Senator Joseph Biden irresponsibly called President Bush a liar this week over the new Iran nuke intelligence, it was played big by the mullahs over there. Yeah, they love that story. Senator Biden is a big hero in Tehran. Are you happy, senator? Are you?

So now you can expect to see every far left nut in the world gleefully jump up and down over the fact that somebody destroyed two interrogation tapes. There is no question the CIA roughed up Zubaydah. We already knew that. ABC's Brian Ross reported that Zubaydah was waterboarded for less than 30 seconds before he gave it up. The information he then provided led to the capture of major Al Qaeda terrorists.

So maybe the agency did abuse the man. But I believe most Americans would understand that. Zubaydah is he an evil guy, who knew plenty about the murderous activities of Al Qaeda. If mistakes were made in this case, own up to them. Don't do a Watergate and try to cover stuff up. That rarely works.

Now the bigger story here is the continuing tension between those of us believe the War on Terror requires tough measures and those who believe tough measures are unacceptable. And once again, The New York Times is driving the situation with a HUGE front page headline today. Remember, The Times is against military tribunals for captured overseas terror suspects, against coerced interrogation, against listening to overseas calls made to suspected terror locations, against every anti-terror measure put in place by the Bush administration.

So once again, there's one simple question. Who do you want making War on Terror policy? The New York Times or President Bush? But before you answer too quickly, understand that destroying interrogation tapes is unacceptable in a lawful society. So were the abuses at Abu Ghraib. So is maiming someone in the pursuit of information. Even though the War on Terror situation is deadly, it cannot be an anything goes situation.

Finally, those who hate America are really feeling good these days because nearly every day is another story that makes the USA look bad. Most of us feel bad about that. But not the anti-American lobby. I really despise those people.

And that's "The Memo."

Pinheads and Patriots

Let me tell you a brief story. A few months ago the geniuses at billoreilly.com ordered up a bunch of T-shirts with the slogan "Wise Up." Good slogan, and we expected big Christmas sales.

When they arrived, this T-shirt, they were not up to factory standards. E.D. Hill was up to our standards but not the shirt. They were simply not well-made. So we sent them all back.

Well, now finally, the quality "Wise Up" shirts are in. Just today they arrived. So wise up and check out BillOReilly.com, and I'm making the guys over there patriots, because they sacrificed profit for quality. That's always a good thing.

Two pinheads tonight: Barry Bonds pleaded not guilty today to steroid use. We don't know what he did, but we do know he's a pinhead in general.

And so is the insipid Joran Van Der Sloot, once againreleased today in the Natalee Holloway case. But the real pinheads are the Aruban authorities who are so amazingly inept, it is staggering.

— You can catch Bill O'Reilly's "Talking Points Memo" and "Pinheads and Patriots" weeknights at 8 and 11 p.m. ET on the FOX News Channel and any time on foxnews.com/oreilly. Send your comments to: oreilly@foxnews.com