Although many Americans don't know it this country is getting battered in the past few months it has been one fiasco after another.
It began with Vladimir Putin seizing Crimea from Ukraine. Putin violated international law and nobody did anything about it. Russian tyrant humiliated the USA in Western Europe. Now do Americans care about what happens in that area of the world? No they don't. And President Obama knows it. Therefore, Putin got away with it.
Number two, the V.A. scandal: even though President Obama promised to improve medical services for vets he has not and even worse. The President did not pay attention to the issue. It took some whistleblowers in Phoenix to expose the Veterans Affairs Department as a corrupt, corrupt entity. Hundreds of thousands of vets are not being given the care they deserve and were promised.
The reason that happened again is because President Obama didn't pay attention to the issue and appointed an incompetent administrator General Eric Shinseki to run the V.A. The same thing happened last fall when Kathleen Sebelius was exposed as an incompetent administrator in the rollout of Obamacare.
So two very important things, the V.A. and national healthcare rollout were botched. It take years for the V.A. to improve, years.
Now, on to terrorism. The release of the five Taliban commanders and war criminals in return for the freedom of Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl has given the terrorists a huge victory. Everybody knows that. By the way, we learned that Sergeant Bergdahl had to leave the Coast Guard because of some psychiatric problems.
So he joined the Army and was sent to Afghanistan. Not a great situation. Anyway, that revelation actually helps the Sergeant because he may not be fully responsible someone who was in control of himself. If a soldier deserts and he and she is of sound mind that's a lot worse than someone who is psychologically impaired. By the way Sergeant Bergdahl will arrive back in the USA shortly.
Now, at this point, I'm giving the Sergeant the benefit of all doubts and I think he and his family should largely be left alone. However, the swap for the Taliban definitely hurt America but incredibly Hillary Clinton does not seem to think so.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think an awful lot of people think that we're less safe today than we were a week ago because these five guys are out.
CLINTON: These five guys are not a threat to the United States. They are a threat to the safety and security of Afghanistan and Pakistan. It's up to those two countries to make the decision once and for all that these are threats to them. So I think we may be kind of, you know, missing the bigger picture here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'REILLY: With all due respect to Mrs. Clinton. She is the one missing the bigger picture. The reason the USA is fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan is because they allied with al Qaeda. And that deal directly led to the 9/11 attack. I'm certain Mrs. Clinton knows that. So why is she saying that five released Taliban commanders pose no threat to America? It's just inexplicable.
So let me address the following remarks directly to Hillary Clinton. If the Taliban regained power in Afghanistan, al Qaeda will regain its training grounds. And if that happens, it will make it easier for al Qaeda to attack the USA and other western nations. Again, I'm sure Hillary Clinton understands that. So her statement is confusing to say the least.
Now, the two latest debacles, the Iraq Army is falling apart. And the terrorists al Qaeda and its affiliates are overrunning that country. The government of Iraq has asked President Obama to provide air power against the Iraq invaders that are coming in from Syria. So far the President has refused to do that. So we're now looking at a possible terrorist state, Iraq, run by al Qaeda. Reports say the terrorists are about 40 miles away from Baghdad that's a catastrophe, there is no question President Obama wanted to get out of Iraq totally when he should have left a small force of American special forces to prop up the Iraqi Army. Now we're seeing the results of the President's decision to get out totally. To be fair, most Americans wanted out as well. But you can't run foreign policy based upon the whims of the public. After more than a trillion American dollars spent and nearly 4,500 U.S. dead military people, Iraq is going down the drain. And it's happening on President Obama's watch. Iraq is a huge miscalculation on the part of the administration.
Listen to the Vice President in 2010 and the President today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I am very optimistic about Iraq. I think it's going to be one of the great achievements of this administration. You are going to see a stable government in Iraq that is actually moving toward a representative government.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: What we've seen over the last couple of days indicates a degree to which Iraq is going to need more help. It's going to need more help from us and it's going to need more help from the international community. So my team is working around the clock to identify how we can provide the most effective assistance to them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'REILLY: And by the way, the President knew about the al Qaeda threat months ago.
Finally, the border another disaster. Tens of thousands of children many accompanied by an adult streaming across the southern border because they believe if they can get here, they can stay here. And that's true. The federal government is now warehousing thousands of kids and some adults who are relatives. We're not sending them back home. But even worse, the feds can't stop the influx of illegal aliens from the south.
Weren't we told the border is secure? Weren't we told that? Wasn't that the basis to go forward with comprehensive immigration reform? The border is not secure. It's still chaotic 13 years after 9/11. It's unbelievable.
So let's review. Putin violates international law, gets away with it. V.A. betrays American vets. The President trades five Taliban war criminals for a suspected U.S. deserter and doesn't tell Congress. Iraq may fall to al Qaeda and the southern border completely out of control.
Those are facts. No ideology involved with this analysis. It has indeed been a very harsh spring for America.
That's ‘The Memo.'
- You can catch Bill O'Reilly's "Talking Points Memo" weeknights at 8 and 11 p.m. ET on the Fox News Channel and any time on foxnews.com/oreilly. Send your comments to: oreilly@foxnews.com.
