Index: src/main/java/org/apache/maven/plugin/war/AbstractWarMojo.java
===================================================================
--- src/main/java/org/apache/maven/plugin/war/AbstractWarMojo.java	(revision 453448)
+++ src/main/java/org/apache/maven/plugin/war/AbstractWarMojo.java	(working copy)
@@ -512,6 +512,10 @@
             for ( Iterator it = webResources.iterator(); it.hasNext(); )
             {
                 Resource resource = (Resource) it.next();
+                if ( !(new File(resource.getDirectory())).isAbsolute() ) {
+                    resource.setDirectory( project.getBasedir() + File.separator + resource.getDirectory() );
+                }
+                System.out.println("Copying resource [" + resource.getDirectory() + "]");
                 copyResources( resource, webappDirectory, filterProperties );
             }
         }