Meeting Resistance

This week, I saw a fascinating documentary called Meeting Resistance. It has to do with the underground organization(s) of a conquered or nearly conquered country (Iraq) engaging in sabotage and secret operations against occupation forces and collaborators (USA). It was shot in Baghdad over a period of 14 months in 2003 and 2004 by two journalists, an American woman and a British man. They were there at the screening to do a Q and A afterwards. They interviewed 12 members of the Resistance, their faces obscured and names absent. Their common threads: Islamic devotees, dying to be martyred, protecting their homeland from unwanted invaders. American soldiers are not seen as heroes or helpers. They are hated, and they are prime targets of these men. According to the filmmakers, the "surge" of more and more troops deploying to Iraq has been "irrelevant" to the violence and infighting in the region. The film gave a voice and image to Iraqi citizens, the ones we have invaded, the ones you never see on the TV news. It is hard to watch, with lots of real-live, present-day violence and death, but it's also essential to watch. It is screening in different cities across the nation and will soon be released on DVD.

Let us all on meditate on peace and the quickest possible end to this terrible war. May all beings be safe, happy, healthy and free from suffering.