Review – Meeting Resistance

Following the start of the war in Iraq, a couple of documentary film-makers obtained extraordinary access to members of the resistance fighting against the United States and its allies. The portrait that emerges is of something nowhere near as monolithic as the word “resistance” might imply. Instead, a vast variety of motivations seem to be sparking acts of violence and terror against coalition forces. The genuinely astounding thing about almost everyone interviewed is that their bigotry and stupidity match the Bush administration almost point for point. I was hoping for the face of an enemy that would at least be noble in a Frank-Castle, you-killed-my-family-now-suffer-my-vengeance way. Instead what we seem to be up against is a gaggle of foreign nationals with no direct stake in the conflict other than their own pseudo-religious fanaticism and former Ba’athists and soldiers unable or merely unwilling to imagine a life that doesn’t involve endless acts of brutality. If this movie is any indication, the leaderships on both sides richly deserve each other. It’s just a heartbreaking shame that so many Iraqis and Americans are caught between them. If they could just kill one another directly, then the world would be rid of the lot of them and not a moment too soon. See if desperate