The Uncritic

Bill O'Reilly

Let the fireworks fly, this is going to be one interesting episode of the O’Reilly Factor, and a huge ratings pull for Fox.  

Barack Obama is scheduled to make an appearance on the O’Reilly show tonight.  O’Reilly is (in)famous for his unorthodox mannerisms and extremist right wing views.  Unorthodox was just a nice word for being a bully and an all around unlikable guy.  It’s hard to say whether O’Reilly is just playing a character for the sake of ratings, or if he’s really displaying his true character on his talk show.  

It’s not uncommon for O’Reilly to yell, harangue, and bully left wingers on his show if he disagrees with their opinions. He usually gets the last word in on arguments by the simple expedient of making sure he can get his opponents mics’ disconnected at any time.  He revels in forcing people to agree with him through semantics and ad hominems.  

Barack Obama on the other hand is a die hard democrat, known for his oratory and debating skills.  He’s not the type of person who will let himself get bullied on national television.  O’Reilly has been bested before on his own show, specifically by Phil Donahue and Stephen Colbert, but i’m sure this episode will out-do both of those.  

watch?v=ucnA8ElvZQA

It’s recently been confirmed that a US based special ops team carried out a minor military strike against a Pakistani village, targeting a Taliban leader.  Without Pakistan’s knowledge or permission.  

The attack was minor in the sense that it was short and quick, but the term seems to belittle the fact that 15 civilians were killed in the attack, including a child.  A spokesperson for the US claims that all the deaths were the result of civilians protecting Taliban members, but it’s much to early for any concrete details

It appears that the operation was unsuccesful; the US team did not succeed in capturing or eliminating their target. The failure is irrelevant.  The fact remains that the US carried out a military operation in an allied country without their permission.  Whether the country is hostile, allied, or neutral, it’s still a political slap in the face.  It’s an indication that the US has no faith in Pakistani policy, and feels entited to carry out things their way, no matter what the consequences.  It seems the Bush administration was just waiting for Ex-President Musharraf to step down before launching their attack.  It was an arrogant move against an already tenuously held ally. 

Before the Bush nay-sayers come rushing in, just remember that this issue has come up before; in a debate between Senators Obama, Clinton, and Dodd.  The self proclaimed harbinger of change, Barack Obama actually suggested this strategy in an infamous debate on August 1st.  His claim was that the US should be prepared to move into Pakistan without Musharraf’s permission, if enough intelligence was gained to justify the strike.  Apparently Obama predicted a lack of co-operation on Musharaff’s part.  You can see the debate here:

http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=3458915

The US has long declared it’s dissatisfaction with the lethargic stance Pakistan has taken regarding it’s policy towards the rounding up of Taliban members, this is just a ridiculous move.  No doubt the US anti-spin machine will be downplaying this as much as possible.  

More news will come flooding in soon.

EDIT:  Apparently it was a NATO run unit, but the final decision had to come from an American based team.