Updated

The good news is that U.S. intelligence now believes Iran stopped trying to develop a nuclear weapon a few years ago. Apparently that information was gathered just this summer from sources within Iran.

So if that's true, it takes some of the urgency away from a confrontation with the Iranian mullahs. The USA certainly does not need another conflict right now with our troops tied up in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The bad news is that anti-American people will use the new intel to mock the USA and diminish the threat from radical Islam. You have to understand that there are Americans who despise heir own country, feel the USA is the cause of terrorism in the world. This crew was epitomized by people like Jane Fonda. Some months ago, we ran into her at a peace rally and asked this question.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you think about what happened to the three million Vietnamese and Cambodians who died after the U.S. troops led Vietnam?.

JANE FONDA, ACTRESS: It's too bad that we caused it to happen by going in there in the first place.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

So according to Ms. Fonda, it was really America's fault that the communists in southeast Asia slaughtered millions of people after the USA pulled out of Vietnam. Believe me, far-left people in America love the fact that U.S. intel has now contradicted the president on Iran — they live for that. And even though the president says he learned about the new intel only last week, it was confirmed only last week. Senator Joseph Biden immediately called him a liar.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOE BIDEN (D), DELAWARE: For this president to knowingly disregard, or once again misrepresent intelligence about the issue of war and peace I find outrageous.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Well, we called Senator Biden to back up his assertion. His spokesperson Elizabeth Alexander says national security advisor Stephen Hadley confirms what Biden says.

But Mr. Hadley says that's not true. He confirms President Bush learned about the new intelligence last Wednesday. Now, we've called Senator Biden and asked him to come on "The Factor" tomorrow. We'll see if he shows up.

Because of the new intel, it will be more difficult to hold Iran and other nations accountable for their murderous activities in the future. There's no question about it. Doesn't seem to bother the loony left that Iran is killing American military people in Iraq and Afghanistan right now by shipping deadly weapons to terrorists. After all, according to these Fonda wanna-bes, it's America's fault for being there. It's interesting to know like WMDs in Iraq, the U.N. couldn't define nukes in Iran. We'll talk with foreign U.N. ambassador John Bolton about that in a few moments.

Knowing what totalitarian nations are doing, though, it is very tough work to find any intel. The USA recently made a nuke deal with North Korea, for example. But is that country really getting out of the nuke business? They lied to President Clinton about it. They could be lying now. It's almost impossible to know.

But what we do know is that Iran is enriching uranium. And it doesn't have to. It has plenty of local energy without going nuclear. And enriching uranium is a primary step toward developing a nuclear weapon.

But "Talking Points" is glad tonight that new intel says Iran is pulling back. We hope that's true. Stratfor believes this even may lead to detente with Iran. Hope is always a good thing, but so is being realistic.

Islamic terrorism is a real threat. Those who reject that truism put us all in danger.

And that's the Memo.

Pinheads and Patriots

The actor, Will Smith, is by most accounts, a good guy and generous with his time and money. He recently visited the troops at Dakota Air Base in Japan. And he and his wife, Jada Pinkett, have given millions of dollars to charity. So Mr. Smith, with a new movie coming out, "I Am Legend," is a patriot.

On the pinhead front, Santa Claus — no, he's not a pinhead. A doctor who says St. Nick needs to lose weight is. Acting surgeon general, Steven Galson, opines that Santa should slim down because he's a role model for kids.

Now I say any guy who lives in the North Pole, where it's 50 below zero all the time needs a little insulation. With all due respect, the surgeon general needs to lighten up — pardon the pun — and not be a pinhead. Leave Santa alone.

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