Appearance in Toronto causes headaches back home for Hardball host

Matthews was in Toronto on Sunday to talk about fighting terrorism. He said a key to battling terrorism was understanding why the enemies of the United States hate Americans.

But in further remarks that were unreported, Matthews advocated the approach Israel took after some of their athletes were killed by terrorists in Munich at the 1972 Olympics.

"The way to deal with terrorists is the way Golda Meir did after they killed the Olympic athletes: track them down and kill them one by one, and I don't mind if you're rough about it," he said.

Matthews said it was a message he wanted his Canadian audience to hear.

"It was very important for me to tell the students that we need to be very tough, even brutal, in dealing with terrorists," Matthews said Wednesday from Washington.

Matthews has been roundly attacked since news of the speech - minus the Golda Meir comments - made the rounds in the United States on countless right-wing blogs and websites, with many calling him soft on terrorism, seemingly one of the worst insults that can be levelled at someone in post-9-11 America.

"What a pig-headed moron," read a post on littlegreenfootballs.com, while other posters spoke of their hatred for him.

Matthews has also received a rough ride from talk-radio hosts, including one in Denver who accused him of attempting to "backpedal" when he explained that he advocated picking off terrorists. Newsweek and the New York Times have been in touch with him about the story.

"This is a very difficult debate in America today and some people have used this to ridicule and lampoon a different point of view," Matthews said. "But a false impression has been left after my remarks - I am all for being tough on terrorists."

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