For my initial response to yesterday’s piece, click here.

I play music for a living. To some it would seem that that means I haven’t the right to give my opinion with regards to Canada’s role in Afghanistan. What differentiates an artist’s opinion from that of a plumber, doctor, cab driver, or even a politician when it comes to an issue as serious as the involvement of one’s country in a war?

The answer is quite straight forward – nothing.

We live in a society in which public discourse is of vast importance with regards to the safeguarding of democracy itself. At no time should any Canadian citizen be attacked, no matter their profession, as to their views regarding the policies of government. Like the military of this nation, its government exists at the behest of the people. That seems to be something that a great many of us have chosen to forget – that we are ultimately the ones that possess the keys to castle, not the other way around. It would seem that big media has forgotten that as well.

Tomorrow morning, were millions of Canadians to show up at the respective offices of their Members of Parliament and demand that a particular government policy be addressed, what do you think would be the outcome? Besides utter shock, it would probably result in immediate action. That is the power that we, as citizens of this country, possess. The only thing that stands in the way of the use of that power is our unwillingness to actually employ it.

To be a patriot is not to blindly support government, but rather to have the wherewithal to question it at all points and on all levels. And that truth is not altered by one’s profession. Attempts can be made to discredit an individual such as myself based on what I do for a living, but the truth is that if I can be discredited on that basis, so can all of us. Perhaps, in the end, that is the priority of Quebecor Media and others like them throughout the media world.

Yesterday’s article by Jeremy Loome was, I believe, little more than a smear piece run the day before the release of a record. Having had the night to think about it, I have chosen to cancel all interviews that I was scheduled to do with newspapers affiliated with Quebecor Media. True, I could do them and use the opportunity to tackle the subject, but, in the end, how I am represented is up to their editors. Daily’s of that ilk are certainly not beyond misrepresentation for the sake of controversy, and the convolution of context is something that has often been prevalent in pieces that their journalists have penned about me in the past. It is, given yesterday’s timely article and today’s ‘poll’, a pointless exercise, and certainly not something I am at all interested in entertaining.

Shut up and sing? Is that what it’s come to? If so, let the application of such logic prove the disservice that Quebecor Media is doing this country…

Shut up and your profession here.

In today’s edition of Sun Newspapers all across the country, columnist Jeremy Loome attempts to discredit my position on Canada’s involvement in combat operations in Afghanistan – a rather interesting development the day before I’m due to release a record.

First, the title of the piece itself is rather interesting - Rocker not fighting Good fight. One wonders what that is supposed to imply? That because I’m not in full support of combat operations I am somehow not a patriotic Canadian? Perhaps he is suggesting that I don’t support the troops. Actually, he does suggest that in a round about way, while actually being presumptuous enough to speak on behalf of the CF as a whole…

“Secondly, he doesn’t consider the wishes of the soldiers — the guys doing the actual killing and dying. We’re a volunteer military, not one that conscripts. These guys aren’t forced to serve, they’re there because they know the difference they can make, even if it costs their lives”.

Does the fact that we have an all volunteer army automatically suggest that all members of the Canadian Armed Forces are for the mission? To suggest that that is the case is rather incredible, as it speaks for thousands of individuals whom I’m sure Mr. Loome has not spoken with personally. While recruitment is up, retention is down, which indicates that many that have served overseas have little desire to continue serving. Added to this is the fantastic and juxtaposed myth of the ‘all volunteer army’. How do the armed forces advertise themselves? As a way to get ahead in life, to perhaps get an education or learn valuable skills? Yes, that is precisely how they advertise themselves. Yet, the truth of the matter is while a position of self improvement is advertised to young people, they are immediately placed in a position of self sacrifice. The latter becomes their predominant reality in this day and age, not the former.

Loome’s first rebuke of my position is just as perplexing…

“First, he contends we need to address our own social and political failings before lecturing anyone else. But nations aren’t set in stone; they evolve, improve and develop over time, and for all our problems, western democracies are still light years ahead of theocracies.”

This is the age old argument that while we will always be replete with slight imperfections, the defeat of tyrannies abroad, in this case one that we cared nothing about prior to 9/11, is of greater import than addressing realities at home - such as homelessness or addressing the dismal reality of child poverty in this country. This is the sort of thinking that buys into the blind acceptance of no-bid military contracts even though our current Defense Minister is a former arms lobbyist, or Provincial legislatures voting themselves substantial pay raises while, at the same time, voting against raising the minimum wage. This is the sort of thinking that throws about the word ‘theocracy’ and then leans on Christian morality with regards to same sex marriage in a secular society.

War, it seems, possesses a higher value.

Tell the average Canadian that their well being is of less import than ensuring that our star be attached to a hegemonic supernova. Tell them that Canada’s increased role in combat operations in Afghanistan is largely due to the vacuum created by the reallocation of US military resources to the Iraqi theatre. Tell them that, and then ask them if it’s a higher priority than addressing the child poverty rate.

We are not a militarily aggressive nation, and certainly not one whose modern history suggests that we blindly support the disastrous foreign policy doctrines of other nations. The UN resolution that empowers ISAF is little more than a rubber stamp, which is to be expected given that the world’s foremost power, and UN financier, caught a glimpse of a reality that they have long helped foster elsewhere.

Loome also writes…

“The ouster of the Taliban has offered a new way: Democracy, warts and all. But to reach that after such a fractured history will require decades, not a few mere years, of military and financial support. It will require the total defeat of the Taliban in practical operational terms and in the bulk of its ideological support. And it will require a willingness to endure Canadian military deaths.”

One of those warts would obviously be Hamid Karzai, who, prior to 9/11, lived in exile in Pakistan attempting to forge a movement to have the Shah (king) of Afghanistan returned to power, which would mean that he supported the reinstatement of the Afghan Monarchy. Of course, Karzai is now one of the foremost symbols of Afghan democracy, despite this fact, and others – such as his support for the Taliban during its rise to power and even being offered the position of becoming their ambassador to the United Nations. Of course, Karzai’s support for the Taliban waned prior to their seizure of most of the country, a declination in support that was primarily due to the movement’s connections with Pakistan. Given that, he also declined their invitation to serve as their ambassador to the UN. But the fact remains, how does one size up the true democratic convictions of men such as Karzai, not to mention those in his government, which largely consists of ex-UIF members, as does the Afghan army’s officer corps? Democracy does indeed take time, but it also requires a nation’s population to ambitiously seek it themselves.

Defeating the ideological support for the likes of the Taliban is a slippery slope, as the Communists found out back in the late 70’s. While many might not agree with the Taliban’s extreme views, there is a fine line between them and the perception of confronting Islam itself. Despite Loome’s belief that the deliverance of democracy will require substantial finances, a prolonged military obligation, and even the deaths of Canadians, the belief that Afghanistan can be transformed into a secularist democracy is a considerable stretch at best. To forgo that realization and believe that it can be transformed into a state modeled after others half a world away is, in truth, not the realization of democracy at all, only the placation of our own security interests. Thus, democracy merely becomes an enabling word tossed about by Sun Media columnists.

As I have stated countless times in the past, there is no excusing the human rights abuses of the Taliban regime. Then again, there is also no excusing the human rights abuses of the UIF in the past, and many of their ranks now occupy government positions, not to mention the fact that they were used by the United States during the invasion of the country as a proxy force. So where does one draw the line with regards to transgressions? Afghanistan’s jails are infamous for their use of torture, hardly a democratic practice. Then again, we have our own complicity in that matter to contend with. I suppose, as Mr. Loome states, democracy simply takes time. And then, of course, there is the plight of the Afghan people to consider, people who, prior to 9/11, Mr. Loome most likely never wrote a single sentence about.

If Mr. Loome purports to believe in democracy, then perhaps he should look at recent poll numbers that reveal that the majority of Canadians are against our involvement in Afghanistan, yet also overwhelmingly support our fighting men and women at the same time. Therein lies the distinction between policy and decency. Perhaps, as Mr. Loome suggests, it’s best that the majority of Canadians simply keep quiet for the foreseeable future, swallow the pill, and agree to ‘fight the good fight’. Ironically, I cannot think of a more undemocratic assertion. And if it can be applied to a nation that supposedly represents the finest of qualities, then how can we, in an any true sense, deliver them to anyone else?

A report(.pdf) released by Oxfam and The NGO Coordination Committee In Iraq entitled Rising to the humanitarian challenge in Iraq presents some rather disconcerting information, though I don’t think that it should come as any real shock at this point.

The report outlines the usual ongoing problems in Iraq – that some eight million people are without proper access to water, food, shelter, and decent sanitation. Further, four million Iraqis have been displaced by the war, two million of them inside the country itself with the rest fleeing to neigbouring countries.

According to the BBC’s report on the findings…

“…70% of Iraq’s 26.5m population are without adequate water supplies, compared to 50% percent prior to the invasion. Only 20% have access to effective sanitation.

Nearly 30% of children are malnourished, a sharp increase on the situation four years ago. Some 15% of Iraqis regularly cannot afford to eat.

The report also said 92% of Iraq’s children suffered from learning problems.”

Like those talking heads in Congress that recently tried to pin failures in Iraq on the Iraqi government - which, as we’re all aware, doesn’t even have the power to have its own Prime Minister heeded when he demands that a General of an occupying foreign army be removed – Oxfam’s report also singles out the Iraqi government for their failures without properly examining what caused the increase in these problems in the first place – the invasion of the country and, with regards to civic services, the oh so spectacular success of the auspicious “shock and awe” aerial campaign.

Were these problems addressed by the Coalition Provisional Authority when they needed to be? No. Were they addressed by the transitional government when they needed to be? No – at that point the United States was far too concerned about the appearance of Iraqi democracy rather than repairing the damage caused by the invasion itself. Have they since been reasonably addressed by the Iraqi government? No. Were Parliament moved outside of the Green Zone could it function? No – it would probably be targeted far more frequently and heavily than it is now - and it’s in one of the most secure places in the entire country.

So what is the government of Mr. al-Maliki supposed to do? They’re handcuffed by the reality that theirs is a country occupied, that theirs is a government that is only as effective as those occupying the nation tend to allow it to be in many cases, and one that is then used as a scapegoat for the shortcomings and offenses of those same occupiers.

While the violence prevalent in Iraq is the number one cause of the afore mentioned problems without question, it must never be overlooked what initially created the catastrophic state that Iraq now finds itself in. And while some might be able to justify that by claiming that a tyrant was deposed and therefore Iraq is better off, just remember that at one time that tyrant was a friend of ours, and while he was off gassing people, we took no action.

Well, it’s been a long time coming, and for football to be the impetus is just fine by me. Finally Iraqis have something to celebrate, and in this case it’s something that has united them more than any other occurrence in recent history - the Iraqi national side has just won The Asian Cup.

“Iraq beat Saudi Arabia 1-0. Celebratory gunfire was heard in Baghdad, where authorities had banned vehicles and urged fans not to gather.

It was feared crowds could be targets for bombers. Some 50 people died in attacks after Wednesday’s semi-final.

Correspondents say Iraq’s progress has temporarily united the divided country.

The team includes Sunni and Shia Muslims, as well as Kurds.

The crowds in Baghdad included members of the security forces. Guns were fired into the air despite an earlier warning by the authorities that any such displays would be punished.

“It’s a huge success for Iraq and it’s a very, very good news for Iraq,” Iraq’s national security adviser Mouwaffaq al-Rubaie told the BBC.

“You should come to see the jubilation and the joy which is spreading all over Baghdad’s streets now. People are pouring in, hundreds of thousands of people are pouring into the streets.”

Want to know what the closest thing to world peace looks like? Well, here it is…

You simply can’t cut an arms deal with certain nations in one of the world’s most conflict ridden regions without cutting another to counterbalance it. So that is precisely what the United States is in the midst of doing.

The US is currently preparing an arms deal with the Saudis and other Gulf states worth $20 billion dollars over the next decade. But as expected, the Israelis aren’t entirely too happy about the prospect of it, so the United States plans to extend to them a package that will total $30 billion dollars over the next decade.

As it stands now, the United States gives Israel some $2.4 billion dollars in military aid a year, thus the new deal would constitute a 25% increase.

“The BBC’s Bethany Bell in Jerusalem says the package is seen as an attempt to allay Israeli concerns over the planned arms deal with Saudi Arabia, reportedly worth $20bn (£9.8bn) over the next decade.

Defence officials quoted by US media said the sales would include advanced weaponry, missile guidance systems, upgraded fighter jets and naval ships.

Mr Olmert said the increased support was a sign of US commitment to maintain Israel’s military “advantage over the Arab states”.”

In total, the United States is committing $50 billion dollars over the next decade to the military capabilities of foreign countries that will, in no small way, ensure that a heightened state of arms proliferation remains prevalent in a region of the world which should, in truth, be the focus of moderation, not proliferation.

Of course, this is all fantastic news for US military contractors, their employees, and those innumerable Congressional districts that rely on the defense sector.

Just another quick note that Matthew will be visiting 102.1 The Edge (Greater Toronto Area) on Hospital Music’s release date, July 31st, at 4pm (EST).

We’ll post more information about radio visits, etc. as they arrive.

Being that I’m currently in the middle of a press tour, and Muggy’s having a bit of a holiday, updates to the website this week have been rather minimal. As some of you on the East Coast are aware, some shows have been announced by local radio stations, which will be added to the tour page on the website tomorrow night, so make sure to check it if you’re wondering if the tour will be stopping near you.

I’d like to thank the in-studio audiences in Washington DC, Ottawa, and Kingston for their warm receptions so far, and XM in Washington, the Bear in Ottawa, and K-Rock in Kingston for putting on the events as well. Unfortunately, I won’t be performing on the radio while I’m here in Toronto, but I will be appearing on Canada AM on the morning of the 31st and then doing an interview live on 102.1 The Edge that same day around 4 o’clock I believe, which is open to the public. If I’m wrong about that time I’ll make sure to correct it over the next 48 hours.

Tomorrow I’m due to record a performance for XM Canada, so when we find out when it’s being aired we’ll make sure to notify those of you that are XM listeners.

I will also be doing on-air performances in Winnipeg, Calgary, and Edmonton as well, so if you’re in any of those cities be sure to listen to local radio for more details. Oh, and to answer a slew of emails that I’ve received - unfortunately I can’t get anyone in that hasn’t been able to win a spot through the stations themselves, sorry.

Two stories out of Afghanistan of note. First, air strikes in a recent clash in Afghanistan have reportedly killed some 50 civilians. Wali Jan Sabri, a parliamentarian from Helmand, claimed that the reports given journalists were credible.

The second is about a recent surface to air missile attack on a C-130 Hercules aircraft. The article obviously points the finger at Iran as the source for the shoulder mounted weapon, which is believed to be a Soviet era SA7 – which is, in truth, quite antiquated. Given that caches of Soviet weapons aren’t unheard of in Afghanistan and Pakistan, or the border regions where black marketers often operate, the probability that it came directly from the Iranian government, or military, seems somewhat ‘convenient’. There is also the possibility that a US Stinger missile could have been used, having been provided the Northern Alliance and Mujahideen in the 80’s by the United States. As recently as the late 90’s, the CIA were actively attempting to buy back random Stingers that had not been used.

In Iraq, the government is reportedly in its ‘deepest crisis’, with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki asking President Bush directly to remove US General David Petraeus – a request that was, obviously, denied. According to The Telegraph…

“Although the call was rejected, aides to both men admit that Mr Maliki and Gen David Petraeus engage in frequent stand-up shouting matches, differing particularly over the US general’s moves to arm Sunni tribesmen to fight al-Qa’eda.

One Iraqi source said Mr Maliki used a video conference with Mr Bush to call for the general’s signature strategy to be scrapped. “He told Bush that if Petraeus continues, he would arm Shia militias,” said the official. “Bush told Maliki to calm down.”

At another meeting with Gen Petraeus, Mr Maliki said: “I can’t deal with you any more. I will ask for someone else to replace you.”

Now isn’t it interesting that a man such as George Bush can champion Iraqi democracy domestically as a way to promote the purpose of the war itself, and yet, at the same time, completely overrule the requests of its elected leader?

There is no democracy in Iraq, nor has there been in any true sense since the US began promoting the creation of a central Iraqi government when Bremer was still at the helm. Iraq is a militarily occupied country, one in which various reactions to that occupation have occurred. Iraqi democracy is a fallacy, a creation to assuage US domestic support for a disastrous foreign policy doctrine, its lynch pin being 9/11.

Lastly, ironies with regards to Saudi Arabia continue unabated. While some view Saudi Arabia’s role with regards to Iraq as counterproductive - and why shouldn’t they being that a fair share of foreign fighters in Iraq are, in fact, Saudis – the Bush administration is on the verge of asking Congress to approve a $20 billion dollar arms package for the Saudis and their neighbours. This, of course, had to be countered by offering the Israelis a ten-year, $30.4 billion dollar, military aid deal.

Surprises all ‘round.

Not a lot of free time to write today. Just had an interview with CBC Radio that will air in the weeks ahead on The House and am getting ready to head to The Bear do play a few songs and answer some questions. Then I jump across the street to Live 88 and do an interview. Intermingled in there, of course, are a few other interviews and whatnot, so it’s a busy day.

Tomorrow I head to Kingston to play at K Rock, so that should be fun as well. I’ll do my best to keep everyone updated as to when I’ll be making public appearances in the days ahead – but things are pretty busy, so forgive me if I happen to miss something.

The record got a five out five star review from The Daily News in Halifax, which is always a pleasant surprise. I also recently did an interview with Exclaim!, which you can read here. There are some mistakes in the interview though, one in particular that should be noted. I did not play drums on any of the tracks on the record. Pat Steward performed them all. There was probably some confusion on their part, as I did mention that Rod Bruno had played a few things here and there.

That said, things in Pakistan continue to heat up, and NATO air strikes have killed another 28 Afghan civilians.

Today’s eyebrow raising article comes by way of the Houston Chronicle in which the following was written…

“The U.S. military has noted a “significant improvement” in the aim of attackers firing rockets and mortars into the heavily fortified Green Zone in the past three months that it has linked to training in Iran, a top commander said today.”

Just a guess, but couldn’t it be simply because they’ve had three months of target practice?

To say that what this suggests is shocking would be an understatement…

“Army medical examiners were suspicious about the close proximity of the three bullet holes in Pat Tillman’s forehead and tried without success to get authorities to investigate whether the former NFL player’s death amounted to a crime, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press.

“The medical evidence did not match up with the, with the scenario as described,” a doctor who examined Tillman’s body after he was killed on the battlefield in Afghanistan in 2004 told investigators.

The doctors, whose names were blacked out, said that the bullet holes were so close together that it appeared the Army Ranger was cut down by an M-16 fired from a mere 10 yards or so away.

Ultimately, the Pentagon did conduct a criminal investigation, and asked Tillman’s comrades whether he was disliked by his men and whether they had any reason to believe he was deliberately killed. The Pentagon eventually ruled that Tillman’s death at the hands of his comrades was a friendly-fire accident.

The medical examiners’ suspicions were outlined in 2,300 pages of testimony released to the AP this week by the Defense Department in response to a Freedom of Information Act request.

Among other information contained in the documents:

In his last words moments before he was killed, Tillman snapped at a panicky comrade under fire to shut up and stop “sniveling.”

Army attorneys sent each other congratulatory e-mails for keeping criminal investigators at bay as the Army conducted an internal friendly-fire investigation that resulted in administrative, or non-criminal, punishments.

The three-star general who kept the truth about Tillman’s death from his family and the public told investigators some 70 times that he had a bad memory and couldn’t recall details of his actions.

No evidence at all of enemy fire was found at the scene - no one was hit by enemy fire, nor was any government equipment struck.

The death of Pat Tillman is turning into an American fantasy worthy of Warren Commission status, though there are obviously some massive differences between the two – one, which has always been my personal favourite, is that, of all people, Allen Dulles was a member of the Commission, a man that Kennedy had fired and a man who represented a group of ‘old guard’ Washington hawks that disliked Kennedy tremendously.

The comparison though, with regards to Tillman, lies more in the obtuse hinterlands of Arlen Specter’s (now a Senior Senator from Pennsylvania) fantastical ‘magic bullet theory’, which, without question, is one of the most ridiculous conclusions every presented in an inquiry in the history of inquiries. Was Tillman shot for reasons completely unrelated to the incident that day? Was he, to use a term coined in the past, “fragged” by a fellow soldier or soldiers? Obviously the term refers to the use of a grenade, but you see what I’m getting at.