Updated

When you think about it, the underwear bomber is kind of pathetic. A 23-year-old loon allowing himself to be used, willing to give up his own life to kill innocent civilians.

Thank God the bomb the man hid in his shorts did not go off and his clumsy attempt to kill people actually shows how downgraded Al Qaeda operations are. I mean, compare this to the sophisticated attack on 9/11.

However, just the attempt by Al Qaeda to kill people has thrown the world into chaos. Airport security is a mess, causing massive delays almost everywhere. Everybody who flies is going to be punished.

Obviously that's a huge victory for Al Qaeda, which wants to disrupt Western civilization and kill as many infidels as they can. Nobody died in the Christmas Day attack, but the disruption to world commerce is enormous. You can just imagine Al Qaeda leaders in Pakistan and Yemen congratulating themselves over the mess they've caused.

When you think about it, this is very frightening. These people can damage the world just by a feeble plot. That's because it's easy for murderous thugs to frighten innocent people and it is very difficult for authorities to stop terror. All it takes is one mistake in a massive bureaucracy and you have the underwear bomber.

On Tuesday, President Obama met with his intelligence people to try to figure things out. OK, that's necessary, but it's impossible to stop terror activity. It simply cannot be done. So the solution must be more intense. Confiscating shampoo from old ladies is not going to cut it.

President Obama must understand that tough rules of engagement must be implemented to find and kill terrorist leaders. So far the president has used drones extensively. These high-tech bombs effectively execute the bad guys. But when the bad guys are captured, things begin falling apart and the USA looks weak and confused by the continuing debate over the rights of foreign jihadists.

Simply put: Al Qaeda thugs have no rights. None. They should be killed on the spot, and that's what the drones are doing. And if captured, they should undergo harsh interrogation and be placed in military prisons.

Reports are that a third of the terror plots since 9/11 have occurred on President Obama's watch. That statistic is debatable, but there is no question Al Qaeda is becoming more aggressive. Every other issue is a sidebar. The United States must destroy the Al Qaeda leadership wherever they are.

Yes, there is an unlimited supply of terror killers, but as the USA demonstrated after 9/11, you can decimate Al Qaeda leadership. It can be done.

The question is: Does President Obama have the will to do it?

And that's "The Memo."

Pinheads & Patriots

If you are tired of watching American weather people, let's go south of the border.

Click here to see a wild weather report!

Even though I only understand her un poco, Sugey Abrego might to be a patriot if she gets the weather right, of course.

On the pinhead front, it is cold all over the USA and some people are having trouble handling that, like a guy who for some unknown reason approached a frozen lake. Obviously this whole caper did not turn out very well, and I think it's fair to say the hefty guy 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