In July 2006, Israel attacked Lebanon in an attempt to weaken Hezbollah and push it North of the Litani River, creating a buffer zone along Israel's northern border. Israeli war planes pounded Lebanon from the air, dropping 5,000 bombs a day for 33 days. 130,000 homes were destroyed and over 1 million refugees created, but Israeli ground troops took heavy casualties and were unable to reach the Litani River. Military combat ended with both Hezbollah and Israel declaring victory, but the real winner may not be clear for some time. The Israeli army was frustrated on the ground, but their bombs and bulldozers depopulated the South. The day of the ceasefire an arm of Hezbollah began taking on this daunting task, it is called Jihad al Bina'a - Jihad Construction.

“The Surge” has dominated the debate about the war in Iraq, but no one is talking about a development that has had an even more important impact on the war - 'The Awakening Movement'. After four years of bloody insurgency in Iraq's Sunni heartland, the course of the war changed abruptly when America formed an alliance with a confederation of Sunni militias known as 'The Awakening movement'. Under the new program, the US gives money, weapons, and military support to tribal sheiks who provide security in return. 100,000 Sunni militiamen were put on the US payroll, and the program has put a small tribal elite in charge of an army of soldiers and a massive patronage network. Since the 'Awakening' began, attacks on American troops have fallen to their lowest levels of the war - but it is an uneasy alliance of convenience.

Each of these was recorded at a particular time in a particular place but it could have been in any number of places, at other times in history. It could have been the fans of the opposing team, supporters of a different cause, members of a different tribe. Crowds form when specifics dissolve. The specifics of time and place as well as specific emotions, needs, thoughts, desires, hopes, beliefs - specific individuals. We wanted to evoke both the dangers and the power and euphoria of these states of collective existence.

A secret love story between two world leaders.