Canadian Rapper Promotes Taliban with Government Money

by Daniel E. Rogell  •  Jul 2, 2012 at 4:20 pm

http://www.investigativeproject.org/3659/canadian-rapper-promotes-taliban-with-government

A popular French-speaking rapper from Montreal has released a new pro-terrorism song showing a Taliban point of view of the war in Afghanistan, Canada's National Post reports. Although Manu Militari maintains that the shocking video for "L'Attente," or "The Wait," doesn't promote terror, Canadian officials are outraged that the artist may have received more than $100,000 in government money to build his career.

The "L'Attente" video shows Taliban terrorists taking revenge for a fictional Canadian/Afghan anti-terror operation where Afghan soldiers torture a local civilian. The song contains lyrics such as "I wait for him" and "I hurry to dig a hole to put in my fertilizer bomb" while showing footage of a roadside bombing of Canadian troops and Taliban fighters gunning down survivors. "I want to free my land … This is not about religion," Manu Militari sings, while Taliban fighters are portrayed as family men.

The rapper was heavily subsidized by Canadian nonprofit MusicAction, which claims as its mission "to encourage the development of music by financially supporting the production and marketing" of acts by French Canadian artists. MusicAction is a federally funded Canadian government entity, with support coming from the Ministry of Canadian Heritage.

"The content of this song is offensive," said Sébastien Gariépy, the Minister of Canadian Heritage's Press Secretary. "To glorify the Taliban and their terrorism is indefensible and wrong. MusicAction's contribution to this group does not meet the conditions of government of Canada funding. Appropriate measures will be taken in response."

The rapper claims to have pulled the video from the Internet, although copies are available on YouTube and other video sharing sites. He has also been performing the song live for more than a year, during which time the Canadian government was underwriting his musical career.

"L'Attente" is the first single from Manu Militari's new album, which will be released on September 11.

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