The song is most definitely written about Australia entering the war in Iraq.
It basically makes the point that Australian leaders of the time, namely Howard, went against public opinion and/or deceived the public into believing Australia needed to be involved in the conflict ("Someone could've told you it'd end like this / We did, you didn't listen you can't take a trick" and "unknowingly the young sign up").
The chorus is sung as if looking back in retrospect and points out that history just seems to repeat itself over and over ("And the truth is that I'd probably do it again")
It should be mentioned that the song also mentions the Australian Wheat Board (AWB) and the controversy that appeared around it around 2005 multiple times ("The enemy of our enemy is still our enemy / So why are you arming them? Is this insanity?" and "Another AWB - but we'll see").
The song is most definitely written about Australia entering the war in Iraq.
It basically makes the point that Australian leaders of the time, namely Howard, went against public opinion and/or deceived the public into believing Australia needed to be involved in the conflict ("Someone could've told you it'd end like this / We did, you didn't listen you can't take a trick" and "unknowingly the young sign up"). The chorus is sung as if looking back in retrospect and points out that history just seems to repeat itself over and over ("And the truth is that I'd probably do it again")
It should be mentioned that the song also mentions the Australian Wheat Board (AWB) and the controversy that appeared around it around 2005 multiple times ("The enemy of our enemy is still our enemy / So why are you arming them? Is this insanity?" and "Another AWB - but we'll see").
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AWB_Limited#Oil_for_food_scandal