FOX News correspondent Steve Harrigan came up with exclusive video of a firefight between Taliban terrorists and American forces. For almost an hour, things were very intense.
Click here to watch the dramatic footage!
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Be advised we are gonna get set up on a good inbound run to completely eliminate any collateral damage.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Clear to fire.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) the gun and fire.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shoot again.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One more.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One, two, three, four, five, six, seven guys.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
When the shooting stopped, at least 14 Taliban fighters were dead. There were no American casualties. But this is a stark reminder that every day the U.S. is fighting two wars, and we're not getting a lot of cooperation.
The Iranian protests put the spotlight on President Obama in the foreign policy arena. The president was cautious, as he should have been, but did define Iran as the oppressor. Whether he did it firmly enough, well, you make the call.
On Iran and other threats, the president is faced with a largely apathetic world, with some countries actually helping the terrorists. The Russian tyrant Putin tried to pressure Kyrgyzstan to close a U.S. airbase which was supplying American troops in Afghanistan. Putin obviously wants to assist the Taliban terrorists. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, a very weak terror warrior, is reluctantly sending a few thousand troops to Afghanistan to fight. French President Sarkozy is also not stepping up as much as he could.
At this point, it does not seem like many world leaders fear President Obama, and that might hurt him.
President Bush was feared, but that fear sometimes turned into loathing. And although countries were cautious around Mr. Bush, most did not step up to help him. And the worldwide press, of course, condemned the president.
So it's another "Barack and a hard place" situation. If you're tough, the world doesn't like you. If you're not tough, the scoundrels do what they want. Hello, North Korea.
Is there a middle ground? I don't see it.
History says when fighting a war, the strong prevail.
And that's "The Memo."
Pinheads & Patriots
From time to time, I, your humble correspondent, am the subject of a comic strip. Here's Mallard Fillmore on Wednesday, authored by Bruce Tinsley. It says: "In our status quo segment tonight, President Obama continues to blame America for bad stuff we never did: colonizing Muslim nations. Late-term abortion fans continue to blame Bill O'Reilly for bad stuff he never did. And those actually responsible for doing bad stuff continue to blame society." So true. Mr. Tinsley is a patriot.
Click here to watch "Pinheads & Patriots"!
On the pinhead front, a viewer warning, some explicit posters ahead. You'll remember this Calvin Klein ad in Manhattan that we discussed last week. Mr. Klein has now taken it down and replaced it with a lady who looks like she's been working out. Does she not? The ad is for a bikini. You make the call on whether Mr. Klein is a pinhead.
— You can catch Bill O'Reilly's "Talking Points Memo" and "Pinheads & 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
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