And why?
"Meeting Resistance," a documentary shot in 2003 and 2004 by photojournalists Molly Bingham and Steve Connors, goes into a Baghdad neighborhood near the protected green zone to answer those questions.
The 85-minute film captures the viewpoint of Iraqis who oppose U.S. troops in their country. The film reveals that ordinary people have joined with former Iraqi military officers, religious leaders and others to drive out what they consider to be an occupying force.
They call themselves resisters, nationalists and patriots. Many are self-proclaimed Jihadists willing to martyr themselves for Islam and Iraq; others are not religious zealots but teachers, engineers, wives and shopkeepers who say they are fighting Americans out of pride and love for their homeland.
A former Iraqi soldier called the U.S. presence in his country "subjugation," and an Iraqi woman told the reporters, "I yearn to be martyred -- my country is occupied."
The documentary will be screened at Baxter Avenue Theatres, 1250 Bardstown Road, at 7 and 9:30 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Both Bingham and Connors will be there after each screening to answer questions about their documentary and their experiences in Iraq.
The above is from Judith Egerton's "Iraqis air their views in 'Meeting Resistance'" (Louisville Courier-Journal). The screenings mentioned are this weekend. Meanwhile, Julian E. Barnes (Los Angeles Times) reports on the latest strategy for spinning no-sucess in the illegal war:
Top military leaders at the Pentagon want to avoid a repeat of the last public assessment of the Iraq war -- with its relentless focus on the opinion of a single commander -- when the Bush administration makes its next crucial decision about the size of the U.S. force.
Concerned about the war's effect on public trust in the military, the leading officials said they hoped the next major assessment early next year would not place as much emphasis on the views of Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top American commander in Iraq, who in September spent dozens of hours in testimony before Congress and in televised interviews.
Defense officials believe his testimony succeeded in muting a congressional debate and in giving them breathing room for their counter-insurgency strategy, but at a potentially high cost. In addition to the burden on Petraeus, some officials believe, an incessant spotlight on one general risks politicizing the military and undermining the public's faith that military leaders will give honest assessments of the war's progress.
In the New York Times, Stephen Farrell's "Car Bomb Kills 9 Civilians in Baghdad" reports on Sunday's bombing that followed the pet market bombing Friday (also in Baghdad) it also notes a 'discussion' of the de-de-Baathification proposal by Iraq's parliament yesterday but fails to note the "row" that break out.
Already reported by Reuters today in Iraq, two people wounded in a Baghdad roadside bombing, a police officer shot dead in a Kut home invasion, a corpse discovered in Mosul, a man shot dead in a Hilla drive-by (another wounded) and, on Sunday, an Al-Zab truck bombing that claimed the life of 1 Iraqi soldier and left five more injured, while a corpse was discovered in Kut.
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judith egerton
the new york times
stephen farrell
julian e. barnes
