Rep. Dick Armey Says Don't Go After Saddam

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Hi, I'm Bill O'Reilly, reporting this evening from Boston.  Thank you for watching us.

Congressman Dick Armey says don't go after Saddam Hussein.  That is the subject of this evening's Talking Points memo.

The conservative Republican from Texas is now opposing President Bush on Saddam, saying that as long as the dictator doesn't cause any more trouble, we should leave him alone.

And some other conservatives agree with Mr. Armey.

However, isn't this the same policy that President Clinton had vis-a-vis Usama bin Laden?  Mr. Clinton knew bin Laden was behind the bombings of the U.S. embassies in Africa and the attack on the USS Cole.  But the Clinton administration thought they could contain bin Laden.  The result of that policy, 3,000 Americans dead.

So what's the difference here?  We know Saddam Hussein is a killer.  He started two wars, gassed the Kurds in northern Iraq, fired Scud missiles at Israeli civilians.  We know he's hired Russian scientists to work on weapons of mass destruction.  We know that at least some of the evicted U.N. weapons inspectors say Saddam is developing smallpox and other biological weapons.

All of these things are facts.  So what Mr. Armey's policy seems to be is, wait and see if Saddam uses the weapons he is trying to develop.  But some other Americans and people all over the world agree with Mr. Armey.  However, it doesn't make any sense to Talking Points.  And indeed, a new Fox News poll shows that 69 percent of Americans would support a U.S. attack on Iraq.

Those people think the way I do.  Why are we willing to give Saddam Hussein a free shot at us?  Everybody knows the man is dangerous.  He's not an elected leader, he's a dictator.  Seems to me everybody on the planet should want him removed.  But no, many in the world are willing to sit back and let Saddam set his own agenda.

Same thing happened in 1938 when Europe signed a peace agreement with Hitler after that dictator had taken over Austria and Czechoslovakia.

It seems we never learn from history.  Brutal dictators without weapons of mass destruction can be contained, like Fidel Castro.  But everything changes once smallpox is in play, for example, and now it is.

So I think Congressman Armey, Germany, France, Saudi Arabia, and the rest of the containment crowd are dead wrong, and I am not willing to bet the lives of my family on their opinions.

And that's "The Memo."

The Most Ridiculous Item of the Day

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

Woody Harrelson, the Cheers guy, the hemp guy, the pot guy, is acting in a London play right now, and he told a newspaper over there he supports singer George Michael's song that criticizes President Bush and Prime Minister Blair for waging the war on terror.  Michael, as you may remember, was arrested for dropping his pants in a public restroom in Los Angeles.

Anyway, Harrelson says Michael is a great guy and quote, "the war on terrorism is terrorism," unquote, according to Harrelson.  Of course, this is ridiculous, and perhaps Woody might go a little easier on the hemp. 

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