O'Reilly: In the "Unresolved Problem"segment tonight, there continues to be much debate about confronting Saddam Hussein. There's no question that the Iraqi dictator has encouraged terrorist acts around the world, including an assassination plot against former president Bush. One of the possible Democratic presidential candidates next time around, Senator Joseph Lieberman, told THE FACTOR last week he wants to go in and get Saddam.

Joining us now is another possible presidential contender, Democratic Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts. And do you feel the same way as Joe Lieberman, senator?

U.S. SENATOR JOHN KERRY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: Essentially, yes. I'm not sure exactly what Joe means by that, but I think we ought to put the heat on Saddam Hussein. I've said that for a number of years, Bill. I criticized the Clinton administration for backing off of the inspections when Ambassador Butler was giving us strong evidence that we needed to continue. I think we need to put the pressure on no matter what the evidence is about September 11.

But I think we have to do it in a thoughtful and intelligent way.

....

O'REILLY: ... the guy is simply -- he is an out of control guy...

KERRY: Absolutely.

O'REILLY: ... and he's not going to, he's not going to respond to embargoes, no-fly zones. He's not going to do that. How would you put enough pressure on him to open up inspections again?

KERRY: Well, I'll reinvigorate that process as step number one, and I think the administration is now suddenly starting to move in that direction. I think you have to work our allies sufficiently to pull that component of the effort back together.

But the second thing I would do, and I wouldn't hesitate to do it, is back opposition more openly, and do it in a way that begins to put a counterinsurgency in the country itself...

O'REILLY: So what do you do, drop, drop heavy weapons to the Kurds in the north and to Muslims who don't...

KERRY: I would say...

O'REILLY: ... like him in the south?

KERRY: Bill, let me tell you, I was all for our following through at the end of the Gulf War with the Kurd uprising, and I thought it was a great betrayal, in a sense, that we encouraged them verbally, we gave them forces, we gave them weapons, we encouraged them and said we were with them, and then we pulled out at the last minute because the Kuwaitis and the Saudis and others were unsure of what might follow.

O'REILLY: Yes, that was a classic mistake. But if you arm the Kurds in the north of Iraq, you're going to alienate one of our most valuable allies...

KERRY: No, I didn't say, I didn't say add the -- I didn't say necessarily the Kurds. There are other members of the opposition. There are people who are outside of the country prepared to go in, there are others inside the country.

And I believe -- I mean, I was in Safra (ph), I went there when the signing of the armistice took place at the end of the war. And I remember seeing that land, which lent itself, in my judgment, considerably, to the creation of almost an enclave, which I thought we should have done then, and I think is one way to begin to approach things now.

But there are other possibilities. The important thing is that Saddam Hussein and the world knows that we think Saddam Hussein is essentially out of synch with the times. He is and has acted like a terrorist, and he has engaged in activities...

O'REILLY: All right.

KERRY: ... that are unacceptable.

O'REILLY: But I -- you know, I still don't see the hammer that's going to convince him to open anything up.

KERRY: The hammer, ultimately, will be the evidence that we uncover as we go further down the trail that shows his support for terrorism and begins to build the coalition even more strongly...

O'REILLY: Have you seen any...evidence that's really compelling that has not come out yet?

KERRY: I have not seen any evidence yet with respect to the 11th. But there are avenues of -- to pursue there. The important thing is that Saddam Hussein has used weapons of mass destruction, Saddam Hussein fired weapons on Israel. They took some -- I think it was 29 or more Scuds without even responding during the war.

In addition to that, he has refused to live by the terms of the treaty that he signed at the end of the war in which he agreed to do certain things.

O'REILLY: Sure, absolutely.

KERRY: He hasn't...the international community ought to hold him accountable for that.

O'REILLY: But the international community won't. If we're going to get -- if he's going to get...

KERRY: Well, ultimately...

O'REILLY: ... out of there, it's going to have to be us.

KERRY: ... ultimately...

O'REILLY: Going to have to be us. Nobody else going to do anything because they're all frightened little ninnies. Now...

KERRY: In the end...

O'REILLY: ... let's shift.

KERRY: ... in the end, we protect our own national security interests. In the end, I'm prepared for the United States to do what it has to do in order to do that.

O'REILLY: All right. Well, he's got to go, that's for sure.