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Hi.  I'm Bill O'Reilly.  Thank you for watching us tonight.

War, children, it's just a shout away.  That is the subject of this evening's Talking Points Memo .

While American troops prepare to remove Saddam Hussein, millions of American citizens are preoccupied with American Idol, The Bachelorette and Joe Millionaire.  It's hard to believe that in this very troubling time, Americans have embraced trashy diversions more than ever before.

But when war does commence, I believe most Americans will focus on this vital situation.

Now today in Japan, Undersecretary of State John Bolton said the Bush Administration has evidence that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction and the evidence, "will be revealed at an appropriate time."

That can mean only two things.  That President Bush will nail Iraq during his State of the Union address next Tuesday or Secretary of State Colin Powell will present overwhelming evidence to the United Nations at some point.

As Talking Points has maintained since 9/11, the world is a better place without Saddam Hussein and some of our so-called allies don't care about America's war on terror.

Russia, China and France have all signed billion dollar oil agreements with Saddam Hussein.  Obviously, money talks.

President Bush, I believe, must be more candid and more revealing about the Iraq situation and must specifically point to the exact danger Saddam poses.  He must also explain why so many people in the world don't want Saddam removed.

Mr. Bush is a plain talker.  He has the ability to connect with everyday Americans.  He must use that ability next week.

It is disturbing that so many people, including millions of Americans, have so much sympathy for the devil.  Once again, it's obvious that so many folks dislike Mr. Bush more than Mr. Hussein.  That, of course is insane but it's real and we must confront is.

On another front, Talking Points is distressed to see some American reporters doing sympathetic pieces about the Iraqi people.

What they don't mention is that after the Gulf War in 1991 the Iraqi people had the opportunity to overthrow this terrible dictator.  They did not.  Now the American people must provide billions of tax dollars in order to remove him.

Now, I don't know about you, but I don't have a lot of sympathy for the Iraqi people.  That being said, I believe the American military will protect as many civilians as possible, as they did in Afghanistan.

Everything changes next week.  Somebody alert "Joe Millionaire."

And that's The Memo .

The Villain of the Week Day

Time now for the Villain of the Week ...

And it's a tie.  French leader Jacques Chirac and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder are both scoundrels.  There they are in their little scoundrel pose. [Picture of two leaders waving to camera.]

They are making it much easier for Saddam Hussein to continue his brutal regime... Chirac, because the French have signed a billion-dollar oil deal with Saddam... And Schroeder because his political power base remains anti-American in Germany.

So these two are the villains of the week, and there is no doubt about it.

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