Eroding Support for the War?

To watch "the memo" click here .

Hi, I'm Bill O'Reilly.  Thanks for watching us tonight.

We don't do too much foreign news here on The Factor, mainly because it doesn't affect our everyday lives very much.  But there's one story developing that will affect us if it happens, and that's the subject of this evening's Talking Points memo.

Secretary of State Powell is going public with the fact that the Bush administration is seriously considering attacking Iraq and also seriously considering punitive actions against Iran.  Since Mr. Powell is the least-hardline member of the Bush foreign policy team, that's a major development, and that hawkish position has caused fear and loathing throughout Europe, as our NATO allies, including Britain, want no part of another Gulf war.

But President Bush seems determined to get rid of Saddam Hussein, maybe because that thug tried to kill his father in Kuwait.

Anyway, the nonsupport of our allies is very interesting.  Despite the fact that Iran was caught sending arms to Palestinian terrorists, and that Iran has harbored al Qaeda killers, France says, Leave Iran alone.  Spain seems to agree with that.  And France also wants the USA to lay off Yasser Arafat, despite the fact that Arafat has done nothing to stop the terrorist attacks on Israeli civilians.

France and other European countries remain firmly behind Mr. Arafat.  In fact, Europe is doing what it always does, ignoring human rights violations and terrorism and appeasing brutal dictators.  Why did it take America to drive Milosevic out of Serbia?  Why didn't the Europeans handle that?

President Bush seems to realize that worldwide terrorism will continue to flourish unless the head is cut off.  That means Saddam Hussein, the Iranian mullahs, and Libya's Kadaffi have to go.

Yasser Arafat also has to go or turn around 100 percent.  The world simply cannot allow fanatics to attack children no matter what the cause.

Talking Points believes a major battle is shaping up between the Bush administration and Europe.  Of course, that fight will spill over into our Congress, but right now, here, it's politically dangerous to side against the war on terror.

It's kind of depressing to see that Europe, with its terrible history of anti-Semitism, still cannot see that terrorism cannot be a part of the Palestinian-Israeli solution.  As long as fanatics deny the right of Israel to exist, there's never going to be peace.

Europe owes America its very existence.  There's no these countries should be sticking up for Iraq and Iran.  They should be firmly aligned with the USA.  Everybody knows Iraq and Iran support killers, and that Mr. Arafat lets vicious terrorists run wild.

Why would any decent country support that?

And that's the memo.

The Most Ridiculous Item of the Day

Time now for "The Most Ridiculous Item of the Day."

In Liz Smith's syndicated column today, she wrote that actor Mel Gibson had bought my novel Those Who Trespass for the movies.  And that's true.  We hope he makes it.  Considering how Hollywood feels about me in general, that's also a miracle.

We are taking The Factor to Los Angeles all next week.  We have some very controversial  stories for you, including an inside look at celebrities and charities.  You'll want to see that.  Going West is always interesting and almost never ridiculous.  And I know where Sean Penn lives.

— You can watch Bill O'Reilly's Talking Points and "Most Ridiculous Item" weeknights at 8 & 11p.m. ET on the Fox News Channel. Send your comments to: oreilly@foxnews.com