O'Reilly: Carter, ACLU, Air America Radio, BBC, Dean, and Murtha are helping the enemy

On the June 20th edition of The O'Reilly Factor, Bill had a mission of "nam[ing] those we believe are helping the terrorists." Throughout the episode, he named former President Jimmy Carter, the American Civil Liberties Union, Air America Radio, BBC, Howard Dean, and John Murtha.

O'Reilly started out the program with:

Tonight: two American soldiers brutally mutilated and murdered by terrorists in Iraq. How should the U.S. respond? We will name those we believe are helping the terrorists. The ACLU and the BBC head the list.

O'Reilly went on:

The Bush administration also needs to begin challenging those who are helping the enemy. The ACLU, for example, opposes just about every anti-terror strategy. This organization should be exposed.

The BBC also helps the enemy by consistently slanting the Iraq war coverage and portraying the coalition as villains. The vile Air America Radio network does the same thing.

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O'REILLY: Do you think Howard Dean helps the enemy?

INGRAHAM: I think when the enemy sees the reaction in the United States, not of unifying to defeat them, but of picking apart every aspect of what we're trying to do there, when those soldiers get treated the way they did, I think they are absolutely emboldened. They're very savvy. They're on all the websites. They watch CNN International and any other broadcast they can get their hands on. And you better believe it has to embolden the people who want to do us harm.

O'REILLY: What about John Murtha's dissent in the Iraq war? Does that help the enemy in your opinion?

INGRAHAM: Well, I think anytime they can use war veterans, you know, people who have served this country, to then say, look, we're the problem in Iraq, that we're stoking the violence in Iraq, that the terrorists want us in Iraq because we're depleting our military resources, that helps them. I mean, that's a recruiting tool. This guy is recognized by many as a war hero, and yet, he's condemning the United States.

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O'REILLY: How about Jimmy Carter? He signs the torture ad along with the reverends, and the torture ad, as I told the reverends, shows up in the Arab press: "See, we told you they were torturing." How about Jimmy Carter? Is he helping the enemy?

INGRAHAM: Yeah. Nobel Prize -- Nobel Prize winner, right, criticizing the United States' torture policy, which of course, as you pointed out, we do not have a torture policy in the United States --

O'REILLY: Yes, we don't have a torture policy.

INGRAHAM: -- except we're against -- we're against torture. So, yeah, when he went down to Cuba and spent time with Castro and said he did really -- what did he say? He didn't see the problems in Cuba that a lot of right-wing people have characterized down there? I mean, this is nothing new for Jimmy Carter. Again, the biggest obstacle to world peace for many of these people right now seems to be the United States: We're the problem. If you look in the mirror, the enemy, we see him. He's us. And I think that hurts us.

O'REILLY: All right. It's a very interesting discussion. Because the line on dissent and helping the enemy, it's a tough, tough line.

To be fair, O'Reilly also defended Murtha at one point:

This may surprise you, but I don't consider dissenting from the Iraq war to be helping the enemy. Congressman Murtha, for example, is acting on his beliefs. He made a mistake by convicting the Marines in Haditha before the evidence was presented, but dissent makes America stronger.

Why would that surprise us though? Isn't that basic free speech? I oppose the war, and my opinion certainly isn't helping the enemy. I just disagree with how we got into this war, without any real reasons. We went into Iraq because the President led us to believe that they possessed weapons of mass destruction and that they possessed a serious threat to our security. None of that was true, and now we're spending hundreds of billions of dollars there, money that should be being spent on education and issues at home, and we're losing thousands of American soldiers, and the situation has just gotten worse.

Back on topic, on the June 20th broadcast of The Radio Factor, O'Reilly has this to say about the ACLU:

O'REILLY: The ACLU is rooting for the enemy. They're rooting for the enemy. They're helping the enemy in every way they can. The American Civil Liberties Union is Al Qaeda's best friend. There is not a better friend to Al Qaeda in the world than the ACLU, and that's the truth. OK?

----All transcripts from Media Matters----