The New York Times declared defeat in Iraq Sunday on its editorial page and there's no question the anti-war movement has momentum. Iraq is a mess and most Americans want out after four years of great sacrifice.
The truth is the Iraqi government and many of its citizens are simply not doing enough to defeat the terrorists and corruption. The USA can't control that country. No nation could. "Talking Points" laid out that scenario three years ago. Unfortunately, the Iraqi failure to help themselves has come true.
And so there is joy in far Leftville. The Bush haters have won a victory. Iraq is not going to become a functioning democracy any time soon. And President Bush will have that on his resume forever.
Not content with the Iraq debacle, the far left is also trying to diminish the overall War on Terror. This movement is led by The New York Times and NBC News in the mainstream media.
When the London car bomb story broke, NBC News actually put a guy on the air who said, "You have a non-event in London, and we're going to battle quarters and beginning to give the old hairy eyeball to every Muslim?"
Non-event? And that statement wasn't even challenged on NBC's air. Incredible.
Over at The New York Times, columnists Paul Krugman and Frank Rich are doing everything they can to downplay the War on Terror. Left-wing zealot Krugman now puts a "TM" next to the War on Terror in his column. How clever. How clever. And today, Krugman stated, "These days terrorism is the first refuge of scoundrels."
Now Krugman and many at The Times believe the Bush administration hypes the danger from terrorism in order to impose fascism or something on America. The 9/11 conspiracy theory has more credibility than this dopey stuff. But it's out there in droves. And since Iraq has not worked, this kind of far-left insanity is gaining traction.
There's no question that time is running out in Iraq, but all Americans should honor the sacrifice our military has made.
It is beyond disappointing this campaign is not succeeding, but I'm still praying for a miracle as a stable Iraq makes the world a safer place. I believe that prayer is not being shared in some precincts here in America, but of course I could be wrong.
And that's the Memo.
Most Ridiculous Item
When we last left Knut the polar bear in Germany, he was cute. You may remember, Knut's mother rejected him. He was being raised by two trainers in the Berlin Zoo.
That prompted some nutty environmentalists to call for Knut's execution, saying a polar bear should not be in the charge of people. Well, Knut, thank God, was spared.
But now he's different. He's 110 pounds. He's huge. And his trainers no longer frolic with him, because he'll eat them. All right?
So Knut's still at the zoo, but now he's got his own cage and is doing his own thing. There it is. Looks like a tough life. Such a life? Ridiculous? In German, they say lacherlich… or something like that.
—You can catch Bill O'Reilly's "Talking Points Memo" and "Most Ridiculous Item" 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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