Helping the Kids of U.S. Military People Killed in the War on Terror

Friday, November 11, 2005: By Bill O'Reilly

Bill O'Reilly, Host, "The O'Reilly Factor"

Helping the kids of U.S. military people killed in the war on terror, that is the subject of this evening's "Talking Points Memo."

Most Americans appreciate the sacrifice the American military is making in Iraq, Afghanistan, and all over the world. The war on terror is intense, dangerous, and misunderstood, especially misunderstood. Just today, The New York Times editorialized this way: "[The administration doesn't] want a full accounting of how American soldiers and intelligence agents have been turned into torturers."

Well, The Times believes the Bush administration has encouraged the military to abuse, capture prisoners. I don't believe that. I've seen no evidence of that.

The evidence I've seen demonstrates the military is prosecuting people who do abuse prisoners. I could be wrong, but I believe the U.S. military mostly uses restraint in difficult situations.

If The New York Times has proof that high-ranking Bush administration officials have endorsed systematic torture, I'd like to see it.

What is happening in the media is a full-court press to damage the Bush administration by using things like Abu Ghraib, and then taking them 10 steps further without the evidence to back it up. That hurts the military, and it obviously hurts the war effort.

Now fair-minded Americans want truth. As I've said many times, no member of the U.S. military should torture anybody. "Talking Points" believes coerced interrogation methods should be used by presidential order only.

Be that as it may, the issue this evening is helping the children of military people, who have been killed in the war on terror. So far, about 1,100 American children have lost a parent in Iraq, and hundreds of other kids have had parents killed in Afghanistan.

We believe the U.S. government should pay college education costs for those children. At a time when patriotic Americans are volunteering to protect their country against evil, the government should step up and look out for their kids.

So we're asking congressmen and senators to draft legislation and pass a bill providing college tuition to the children of slain military people. We owe it to those who have died in the struggle to help their kids. And "The Factor" urges our federal leaders to directly contact us if they believe that as well.

Remember, the 9/11 families received government assistance. So this is a fair and logical proposition. We also encourage you to contact your congresspeople and senators and urge them to back this proposed legislation.

We'll let you know what happens on Monday. We expect to get big reaction to this. And we expect the bill to be passed quickly. And that's "The Memo."