Fox News host Bill O’Reilly appeared on Tuesday’s CBS This Morning to promote his latest book “Killing Patton” and was met with a barrage of questions for insisting that a mercenary army needs to be established to defeat the terrorist group ISIS.
During the interview, O’Reilly maintained that we need a 25,000 “man force to be deployed to fight on the ground against worldwide terrorism.” In response, CBS co-host Gayle King obnoxiously asked her Fox News guest “why do you always say all the things, you say, Bill, with such certainty?”
Apparently King didn’t realize that as host of the number one cable news show his audience expects him to have opinions on the issues of the day. O'Reilly's audience probably wouldn’t respond well if he came on The O’Reilly Factor each night and announced that he had no opinion about the ISIS and didn’t really know what to think about the terrorist group.
For his part, the Fox News host joked that he’s “always right, Gayle, you know that” before he outlined the major threat ISIS poses to the world:
On my show, six months ago, I said to President Obama, you're going to have to bomb these guys in Syria. And last night it happened. It's not that I'm so smart, it's just that, there’s a trajectory of worldwide terrorism that has to be confronted. Everybody knows that has to be confronted. Yet, they dither and they dally and they delay and they obstagate. And it’s got to stop or we’re going to have more beheadings. We’re going to have a beheading everyday unless they knock these guys out.
As the segment progressed, Norah O’Donnell did her best to defend President Obama’s ISIS strategy and argued that “putting together five Arab nations to launch this coordinated attack in Syria to give Bashar Al Assad, essentially give him a heads-up, so he doesn't use his air defenses against our war planes, that takes time, doesn't it?”
O’Reilly shot back and argued that “it's nice that Jordan and Saudi Arabia helped us but it doesn't mean anything, it’s symbolic. It's not propaganda, it’s a PR thing.” O’Donnell retorted that the United States doesn’t want the image of “attacking another Muslim country” to which O’Reilly maintained that the international community doesn’t have the will to defeat ISIS:
You have to have a central command, an authority to fight worldwide terrorism. And we don’t have it now. And I don't think we have the will yet. It's going to take another 9/11 attack for the world to get the will.
Charlie Rose pushed back at O’Reilly and asserted that “the will is growing” but the Fox News host concluded by criticizing the lack of a proactive strategy to combat terrorism:
Don't wait until you're hit and react. We've been waiting. Everybody knows the evil that exists in this world. These people are Nazis, all right? This is the same mentality that Hitler brought. There's no difference. And now we have Iran, also, also giving us a hard time about nukes. They’re right in the shadows here. And you have Putin trying to resurrect the Stalinesque expansion. We have a lot of problems here. And we better wise up and start to get a central authority to deal with some of it.
See relevant transcript below.
CBS This Morning
September 23, 2014
NORAH O’DONNELL: And with the U.S. now unleashing air strikes in Syria and building a coalition against ISIS, Fox News host Bill O'Reilly is offering his own solution, a new volunteer mercenary army. O’Reilly’s also here with a new provocative idea about one of the most colorful and outrageous generals in American history.
CHARLIE ROSE: It is the focus of his new book "Killing Patton: The Strange Death of World War II’s Most Audacious General.” Bill O’Reilly joins us for an interview you’re seeing first on CBS This Morning. Welcome back.
BILL O’REILLY: Thanks for having me in. I appreciate it.
ROSE: Well we want to talk about General Patton and your book but first, these strikes in Syria against ISIS, is it the president doing the right thing and doing it the right way?
O’REILLY: Yes, he's doing it a little too late -- well, a lot too late but he’s doing the right thing.
ROSE: And what's your idea that might have made it an alternative?
O’REILLY: Well, intelligence sources tell us at “The Factor” that they were intensely advising President Obama a year ago, one year ago that this ISIS army was growing in power and financial strength and it had to be neutralized but the president did not want to take action for a number of reasons. So it did. And obviously now, it's a threat to the world. And since the world is largely cowardly, the United States has to lead the way to try to degrade these people and wipe them out.
GAYLE KING: And last night, you offered an idea that some say is very unique on your show. You called for a mercenary army to defeat ISIS. How would that work?
O’REILLY: Under congressional approval and authority the United States would train and pay well, mercenary troops from all over the world. We would select them. Special Forces would train them. 25,000 man force to be deployed to fight on the ground against worldwide terrorism, not just ISIS, and that would be a permanent force and it would take the politics out of it. What's killing the west now in this fight on terror and Putin as well, is the politics of it. Can't get anything done quickly. Can't mobilize fast. So it's going to happen. This anti-terror army is going to happen.
KING: Why do you always say all the things, you say, Bill, with such certainty? Why do you think that’s going to happen?O’REILLY: Because, I'm always right, Gayle, you know that.
KING: I know you think so.
O’REILLY: On my show, six months ago, I said to President Obama, you're going to have to bomb these guys in Syria. And last night it happened. It's not that I'm so smart, it's just that, there’s a trajectory of worldwide terrorism that has to be be confronted. Everybody knows that has to be confronted. Yet, they dither and they dally and they delay and they obstagate. And it’s got to stop or we’re going to have more beheadings. We’re going to have a beheading everyday unless they knock these guys out.
NORAH O’DONNELL: You know, the people who make these decisions say it’s always easy to be the critic on the outside. It's harder to be the person on the inside who is planning those things.
O’REILLY: Absolutely.
O’DONNELL: And putting together five Arab nations to launch this coordinated attack in Syria to give Bashar Al Assad, essentially give him a heads-up, so he doesn't use his air defenses against our war planes, that takes time, doesn't it?
O’REILLY: It takes time. But I want to take that out. Look, it's nice that Jordan and Saudi Arabia helped us but it doesn't mean anything, it’s symbolic. It's not propaganda, it’s a PR thing.
O’DONNELL: But we don't want another story about the U.S. attacking in another Muslim country.
O’REILLY: That's right, we don't want the United States to have to do it all which is why, this army would be funded by the way, by the coalition, not the United States. But it would be under the United States authority, trained here. But we have to take the politics out of worldwide terrorism, we have to. And that's the way to do it. To have a strong NATO coalition because they would be involved with this. And then a 25,000 man force to be deployed where we need them.
O’DONNELL: So Mike Morell, who you know, former number two at the CIA, was here a week ago, talking about this group called Khorasan, this offshoot of Al Qaeda which the U.S. Central Command in their statement last night said they attacked this specific group and bomb making facilities because of an imminent threat to the United States.
O’REILLY: Sure. But this makes my point. These guys, there's just a million of them, they just pop up. Whether it's Yemen, Somalia, or here or there. And you just can't have this unwieldy apparatus saying well maybe we’ll get them but maybe we have to go over here. You have to have a central command, an authority to fight worldwide terrorism. And we don’t have it now. And I don't think we have the will yet. It's going to take another 9/11 attack for the world to get the will.
ROSE: Well I think the will is growing, Bill.O’REILLY: I do. But I’ll tell you what and I was telling Gayle this in the green room, if Patton were the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, believe me, this war would be fought in a whole different way.
KING: You say it would be a whole different ballgame -- because?
O”REILLY: Because Patton was bring the battle to the enemy. Don't wait until you're hit and react. We've been waiting. Everybody knows the evil that exists in this world. These people are Nazis, all right? This is the same mentality that Hitler brought. There's no difference. And now we have Iran, also, also giving us a hard time about nukes. They’re right in the shadows here. And you have Putin trying to resurrect the Stalinesque expansion. We have a lot of problems here. And we better wise up and start to get a central authority to deal with some of it.
KING: You know, your book comes at a very interesting time. You clearly see parallels and we’re going to talk about in the next half hour. There's a big “New York Times" ad out. Are you familiar?
O’REILLY: The New York Times is just thrilled about having me—
KING: I said to Bill have you seen this ad and he goes yes, I’ve seen it. I wrote it. The most anticipated book of 2013. We’re going to talk to you about your book coming up in the next half hour. So you’ll be glad to stick around.
O’REILLY: I will be. Thank you, guys. I appreciate it.
KING: Even though he told me guys in the green room, he's not a morning person.
O’REILLY: To say the least.
KING: Glad to be here.
