With his new album now in stores, country legend Merle Haggard [ tickets ] rolls out on a late-2003/early-2004 U.S. tour.

So far, the 66-year-old singer-songwriter has lined up a handful of November, January and February shows, most of which are set in southern and western states.

The outing backs his latest album, "Haggard Like Never Before," which surfaced in late September. The set features the single "That's the News," which hit radio stations in July. In the song, Haggard criticizes the mainstream media for its coverage of the war in Iraq.

Haggard served up additional criticism in an editorial posted at his website.

"Seems lately we're awfully quick to criticize and pleased with ourselves to be part of the majority," he wrote. "As a country, we need to look inward for the answers to the energy of the future. We need to bring down our demands for oil, rebuild some bridges and highways and allow the farmers to grow something that replenishes the soil. ... The problem is not in Iraq and the answers are not in Iran."

Haggard also addressed the public backlash against the Dixie Chicks [ tickets ] that followed lead singer Natalie Maines' criticism of President Bush and his handling of the Iraqi conflict.

"I don't even know the Dixie Chicks, but I find it an insult for all the men and women who fought and died in past wars when almost the majority of America jumped down their throats for voicing an opinion," he wrote. "It was like a verbal witch-hunt and lynching. Whether I agree with their comments or not has no bearing."