CANCELLED: Screening of the Documentary Film 'Dirty Wars'

Investigative reporter Jeremy Scahill has now become a filmmaker - and in fact is a protagonist - in the recently-released documentary film "Dirty Wars", which is based on the book he wrote and published in 2013, "Dirty Wars: The World is a Battlefield". On Sunday, January 19, Peace Action of San Mateo County will host a free screening of "Dirty Wars" at the Unitarian Universalists of San Mateo, 300 E. Santa Inez Avenue (at Ellsworth) in San Mateo. The event begins at 7 PM. Enter Beck Hall at the UU from Ellsworth.

Germinating from an investigation of a night raid that has gone haywire, "Dirty Wars" is an 85-minute film that explores, through Scahill's eyes and with his narration, various U.S. military adventures in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia and elsewhere. These actions are carried out in secret, by military officials, "special ops" troops and intelligence operatives, about none of whom we are meant to know anything.

Scahill shows how such warfare (including the use of drones) causes destruction and death among other countries' military and citizens alike, undermining our standing in the world. Our own citizens are not exempt. "Drawn into the stories and lives of the people he meets along the way," the film's web site says, "Scahill is forced to confront the painful consequences of a war spinning out of control, as well as his own role as a journalist."

Scahill is the National Security Correspondent for The Nation magazine and is a Puffin Foundation Writing Fellow at The Nation Institute. His earlier (2007) book, "Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army", won the George Polk Award given for special achievement in investigative journalism.

Join us on the 19th for this eye-opening documentary. We will offer an open discussion following the screening.