Hey BillOReilly.com Premium Members, welcome to the No Spin News on audio today because I'm out here on eastern Long Island soaking up the end of the summer. And we'll be back on video on Monday, but this week will be audio unless something explodes. 

So, we've got a lot to talk to you about today and it's very interesting. First of course, is the president's speech last night on Afghanistan. You have two choices in Afghanistan. 

You can leave and the predictable consequence of leaving would be that the Taliban would take over most of the country. Kabul might be able to hold out. Bagram Air Force Base outside of Kabul where the U.S. troops are based, that would hold out, but primarily the Taliban would run the country. So that's what would happen. There's no real debate on that. And then the Taliban would let ISIS and al Qaeda and every other terrorist group do what they want. 

So you'd be right back to where you were in 2000. So that's option number one: get out, we did the best we could, it was a noble endeavor, which it was, but the Afghan people are not strong enough to fight their own battles and they never will be. OK, so that's the option that President Trump rejected. 

What he accepted was an ongoing presence like Korea but with bullets flying where we're there and NATO, you know, they're there too, but not to the extent that we are. We have about 10/12 thousand American troops. And then we're basically firefighters. So when the Taliban pops up we whack-a-mole them back and we keep the country out of the hands of the Taliban. So that's the option that President Trump has embraced. 

He said, "OK, we're willing to spend the money," and you know, at that level you're talking 50/60 deaths a year unless there's a chopper crash or something and maybe 300 wounds. You know, it's substantial. It's not trivial. But that would keep the country in place. 

Now, I'd like to talk to Secretary of Defense Mattis about this because he knows more than anybody. I'd like to say look, "do you have any hope at all the Afghan army and police services can control their country or is it just not ever going to happen?" I'd like to, you know, have that conversation with Mattis, but Mattis isn't going to certainly answer those questions. But he knows. Mattis knows.

Now, I was, you may remember, over there in Afghanistan and the primitive nature of the country is just startling. It's tribalism with Islam driving behavior. And depending on where you are on the religious scale, there are some liberal Islamists and some very, very conservative Islamists, that dictates how you behave. The Taliban are fundamentalists. They're going to come in. It's Shari'a law.

That was one thing that struck me when I was driving into Kabul from the airport. We flew in on a big transport plane and there were no lights in the country. I remember sitting in the cockpit telling the pilot "are we close by?" 

And he goes, "yeah, we're going to land in 15 minutes." 

I looked down. I said, "well, there's no light..." 

He goes, "well, they don't have electricity. Only the big cities." 

So it's like black. I thought we were over the ocean. 

But anyway, you get into a primitive society and I was riding into Kabul in a car with my bodyguards and I said, "stop for a moment." 

The car stopped and on the side of the street was this cement wall with these iron round things and what looked like rust all over the place. And I said, "what's that? That caught my eye."

The bodyguard says to me, "that's where the Taliban would put people for public floggings if they committed adultery, if they were gay, or anything like that." They shackled them into these iron, cast iron round things up against a concrete wall and beat them so everybody could see it. That's the kind of society the Taliban imposed. 

So, President Trump made the case, said, "look we've got to stay there because we can't have this 9/11 situation again where you have a breeding ground and a training ground for ISIS and al Qaeda. So we have to do it." 

Most Americans I think agree with that even though it's frustrating. They say it's the longest war in American history. But yeah, we're not really fighting the war. If we're fighting the war we'd invade Pakistan and kill all the Taliban that's hiding up in the northwest quadrant. And what are you going to do with Pakistan? I mean, he says that they're going to get tougher on them. But you know, it's, Ok, but they're not going to... 

The Pakistani government is chaotic. There's a lot of Islamists in the government. Some people want to root out the terrorists, some people don't. There's assassinations all over the place. The country is out of control. They have a nuke. So there's only so much we can do over there. I'm not expecting great strides by Pakistan to fight the Taliban. It's not going to do. 

So, very frustrating. The rest of the world doesn't care about Afghanistan. They don't really care about al-Qaeda or ISIS. They're basically trying to avoid being killed. But are they going to help us? No. It's all us. Always us. Very frustrating. But I don't think the American people were angry with the speech last night. It was good to see President Trump being a president rather than involved in all this crazy stuff. 

Alright, so the president travels tonight to Phoenix, Arizona, 10pm Eastern Time. Big rally. He's got plenty of supporters in Arizona. That's why he's going. 

The governor of Arizona, you know, is a conservative guy. Ducey, Doug Ducey. He's not going to be at the rally but he will greet Trump. The two Republican senators don't like him, Flake and McCain. They won't be anywhere near there. I do believe that President Trump will pardon Sheriff Arpaio, who was convicted of violating federal law in immigration by having his local guys do federal work. 

I think that Arpaio will be pardoned tonight. That will be a big headline tomorrow, everybody will be screaming about it and all of that. So, you can expect a stem winder from President Trump. He will get all his...he will vent and then Arpaio will get the pardon. 

All right. Now, let's change gears a little bit and tell you about a story that's extremely, extremely troubling. 

This far-left intimidation of sponsorship is out of control and they did that to me. Media Matters, and there's a whole bunch of these groups. So, the latest victim is a group called Jihad Watch. All right. And Jihad Watch is an organization that warns the world about the dangers of Muslim fundamentalism and terrorism. 

Well, a group, Pro Publica, funded by George Soros, has targeted Jihad Watch and its director, Robert Spencer, and they've convinced Pay-Pal to ban any donations to Jihad Watch. This is what these people do. They threaten PayPal or Amazon or any of that. 

Pro Publica is just an arm of this crew that attacks people with whom they disagree. So they're threatening Amazon, Newsmax, PayPal for maintaining partnerships with Jihad Watch. Not in the sense that they're editorially partnered up. They're not. They just allow donations to flow in. So let's bring in Robert Spencer, who's the director, as I mentioned, of Jihad Watch. 

((Interview)) 

Alright, in the other news that I want you to know about, Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl has decided to be tried by a judge, not a military jury on charges that he endangered comrades by deserting in Afghanistan. That trial, and many of you are very interested in that, is going to commence in October. But, you know, it's been postponed so many times that anything can happen. 

You know, I don't know how Bergdahl gets out of this. You know, because guys were hurt searching for him after he deserted. That's the fact. I don't know how he gets out of it. 

Alright, how about the IRS scandal under President Obama? Remember, in my interview with him he told me there wasn't a smidgeon of evidence that anybody in the IRS targeting conservative groups. That turned out not to be true. But nothing happened.

However, now a judge, Reggie Walton, U.S. district court in D.C., has ordered the IRS to provide more information about groups that were targeted and who targeted them from within the IRS. So this is because of private lawsuits, not government watchdogs. So private lawsuits, and again, it's run by groups that are interested in the welfare of this country. This is Judicial Watch. 

Judicial Watch is a good group. So they sued and now a judge said to the IRS, "you better come up with more stuff. We know it's out there and we want to see it." 

So we're following that story as well. 

Marijuana. Everybody's high on consolation as Hall and Oates once sang. Want free pot, legalized pot, pot for meds, pot for everything. Well, if you are a heavy pot smoker, research shows that you are in danger of hypertension. 

The study in the European journal of preventative cardiology said the more pot you smoke the more hypertensive you will be, which kind of goes against the mellow aspect of this. I'm not a drug guy, as you all know, and I don't think running around in a state of inebriation is good and can lead to anything good. 

I know a lot of you disagree and that's good. I'm glad you do. But, you know, there's a lot of downside to smoking pot all the time and drinking all the time. OK. 

Let's get to the mail, we have some good letters here. 

Wendy Copithorne. Ipswich, Massachusetts. Ipswich, north of Boston on the coast. If you go there, go to Woodman's. Ipswitch clams, Woodman's in Ipswich. Legendary. 

"Hey, Bill. I became a Premium Member tonight because I need your help. My 24-year-old son and I had a political debate over the Nazi group in Virginia. I told him everyone has a first amendment right as long as they're peaceful. My son said the Nazi group has no rights, we should have zero tolerance in allowing them to protest in any way." 

Well, I mean, look, Wendy, all you have to do is point to the court ruling. The judge allowed it. And under our Constitution there aren't exceptions. As long as you're peaceful, you can say what you want as long as it's not threatening or putting anybody in a position of being in any kind of danger. Can't do that. 

Mark. Bradenton, Florida. 

"Donald Trump has a daughter married to a Jewish man. I also believe he has a Jewish grandson." That's true. "Appears to be on excellent terms with all these family members when visiting Israel. He visited shrines and synagogues and observed proper dress and customs. These actions speak for themselves and they do not connote any neo-Nazi or KKK sympathy." 

Very good, Mark. Good letter. I think it's right on. Your letter really is very, very good. 

Estelle in Decatur, Georgia. 

"Bill, why can't you say the ANTIFA crowd are bad people?" 

You know, I don't like the extreme elements of that crowd but I don't know if it's smart or fair to say everybody who's protesting against so-called fascism is a bad person. I don't know if that's... I think that might be going a little bit too far. But I certainly don't like anybody who is using ANTIFA to do bad things. I mean, that's despicable. 

Ida. Kissimmee, Florida. 

"Initially, Bill, I disagreed with your analysis that President Trump's error was the inclusion of ANTIFA's violence alongside white supremacists. I've not heard Dems or mainstream media condemn ANTIFA's tactics. It seemed unbalanced and unfair as they criticized the president's statement of violence on both sides. But as I listened closely to your No Spin News tonight, I understand your explanation and now agree. I've studied the history of the Nazis, which was far reaching in it's evil. The historical evil of Nazism and the infancy actions of the ANTIFA group cannot be scaled equally." 

OK, very, very good, Ida. I'm glad I convinced you. I don't like the ANTIFA group, by the way. I don't think that they are looking at the country in a fair way. So I want everybody to know that. But I appreciate you taking my words and analyzing it. That's what we like to see. And that's why this audience on BillOReilly.com is probably the most sophisticated audience politically in the country. 

Nancy Anderson. Chester, South Carolina. 

"Many of the Confederate monuments erected throughout the South were by communities that lost so many sons, fathers, and loved ones in the Civil War. Few of the fallen were ever returned or given a proper burial and few could afford an individual marker. So the ones left behind raised money for one monument to honor the dead." 

That's an interesting point, Nancy. Honoring the Confederate dead who fought for a cause that was unjust. But did they know that? Probably not. Most of them were teenagers. Many of them were illiterate. So I mean, I think you really have to step back here and let history be displayed. 

Connie. Orlando, Florida.

"Just renewed my subscription even though it was only 119 days old. I want Killing England as soon as it's hot of the press. We have all of your books and have given many as gifts." 

Well, if you do become or re-up BillOReilly.com Premium Membership, you get Killing England free. It is now unbelievably relevant because of the statue stuff. And Martin Dugard and I tell you exactly how George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin behaved, who they were as people. So you can now know the truth about them and evaluate their lives in totality. This is so important. 

So I got a big break, as I wrote in the Message of the Day today about the statue pulling down stuff. Killing England, you know, they're coming after Washington and Jefferson, the far left, they're coming after them. They want to just wipe out all of our history and start over in their vision. Columbus is getting it now. 

Alright, so good, Connie, I'm glad you're with us and thanks for the letter. 

Gary Moore. Prescott, Valley Arizona. 

"Bill, thoroughly enjoying your daily No Spin News. I recently renewed my Premium Membership, was happy to get Killing England free. Keep up the great work." 

OK, so we're moving on that front. And I'll be doing a lot of publicity for Killing England and it's really good. You'll love it. I think, if you liked the other killing books you'll really like it. 

Grace Izuhara. La Palma, California. 

"Just finished The Day the World Went Nuclear, excellent book. Also read Killing the Rising Sun, found there was much to be learned about that time. My paternal grandparents and their son were interned. My father took us to Clearfield, Utah. Read many books over the year about World War II and Japan's part in it. But all of the books that you've written, Mr. O'Reilly, put together stuff that I did not know." 

Well, you know, Grace, the internment wasn't correct. But again, it was done out of public safety, hysteria. And when you read Killing the Rising Sun you'll know why everybody was hysterical.

Kelly Galbraith. Grand Rapids, Michigan. 

"Bill, just finished watching the Killing Reagan and Killing Lincoln movies on Amazon Prime. I'm wondering if the movies are exactly what the books are about." 

They were very good. All the movies, Killing Lincoln, Killing Kennedy, Killing Jesus, and Killing Reagan, all four were excellent. And they stayed within the parameters of the book, no nonsense or craziness. OK, so I'm glad you get them on Amazon Prime and we're working on some movies down the lane about the other books, so we'll let you know. 

OK, so if you want to reach me it's Bill@BillOReilly.com or the message boards. Twitter followers, about two 2,200,000 @billoreilly. We've got a lot of fun stuff in addition to serious stuff on Twitter. 

And the Word of the Day. Do not, and this is an easy one, if you don't know this one then you really have to start on your vocabulary. Do not be a buffoon. 

If you know any urchins, ask them if they know what buffoon means when writing to BillOReilly.com. 

Alright, tomorrow we'll have audio again. And I'm savoring every last day of the summer. I hope you are too. 

Thanks for being Premium Members and we'll talk to you again soon.