Too Many in the U.S. Media are Anti-Military...

Hi, I'm Bill O'Reilly, reporting from Los Angeles. Thanks for watching tonight.

CBS News says a Fallujah Marine will not be formally charged, but charges have been leveled against a Muslim American who the government says wanted to kill President Bush. And that is the subject of this evening's "Talking Points Memo."

You remember this tape a corporal in the Marines shooting a wounded Iraqi combatant in a Fallujah mosque. Some human rights groups immediately condemned the Marine. The elite media pretty much ignored him. But “The Factor” said the shooting appeared justified.

Now I formed my opinion after seeing the tape and hearing the Marine yell out "he's blanking faking." And our investigation showed that other members of his squad have backed him up. They all felt threatened.

Now "Talking Points" is happy this young Marine reportedly will not be court martialed, although he still might be punished by the [Marine] Corps. I believe soldiers in combat must be given the benefit of the doubt. And there was plenty of doubt in this case. The U.S. military must be allowed to fight the war on terror without second guessing by anti-war people.

Oversight's necessary. We all know that. But so is the benefit of the doubt.

Compare that situation to Abu Ali (search), a 25-year-old Virginia man who the FBI believes was working with Al Qaeda and who is now charged with conspiring to kill President Bush.

Ali was arrested in Saudi Arabia. He says he was tortured there. And his case is engendering some sympathy. So let's put this in perspective. The young Marine — pretty much ignored by the elite media. But Abu Ali gets editorials today in The Washington Post and The New York Times.

The Times says, "What we can say now is that [Ali's] case seems to be another demonstration of what has gone wrong in the federal war on terror."

So what we have now is the benefit of the doubt for Ali and silence for the Marine. This, ladies and gentlemen, is why I believe the American print press has lost perspective.

Let's look at this at Ali guy for a minute. He attended a militant Islamic school in Alexandria, Virginia. He then went to Saudi Arabia to study. FBI agent Tim Saubcheck (search) has testified under oath that Ali has participated in jihad training. A search of Ali's home found documents praising the 9/11 attacks and audiotapes in Arabic promoting violent jihad and the killing of Jews.

Now I'm not going convict this Abu Ali on “The Factor”, but this stuff is pretty damning. Contrast that to the Marine who obviously felt he was in danger by his own words on tape.

The point here is that too many in the U.S. media are anti-military and sympathetic to suspected terrorists. Period. And that's the Memo.

And that's "The Memo."

The Most Ridiculous Item of the Day

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

The controversy over a tiger who was shot by authorities in Ventura County (search), north of Los Angeles, is growing. The 425-pound animal was on the loose for eight days just roaming around up there, after it escaped from its private owner. Authorities are investigating that man right now.

Apparently, the tiger was about to attack some dogs when animal control people caught up with it and shot it dead, saying that tranquilizer darts could not ensure public safety.

Now everybody feels sorry that a beautiful animal like that had to die. But second-guessing the animal control experts is ridiculous, especially if you`re a cocker spaniel looking at a hungry tiger.

It is, indeed, a jungle out here in Southern California.

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