April 18, 2005

American Peace Activist Killed in Car Bomb Attack in Iraq

It appears that Iraq's minutemen didn't really care that Marla Ruzicka was in Iraq trying to help civilians affected by the 'Evil Zionist Crusader forces occupation'. Note that she appears to have been killed on the same road that Giuliana Sgrena's car was shot by U.S. tropps. SF Gate:

Marla Ruzicka, 28, of Lakeport (Lake County), founder of CIVIC -- Campaign for Innocent Victims of Conflict -- died with her driver on the Baghdad Airport road Saturday when a suicide bomber attacked a convoy of security contractors that was passing next to her vehicle, according to her family and news reports quoting U.S. Embassy officials in Iraq.

The target of the attack apparently was not Ruzicka's vehicle, said her mother, who received the account from the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.

She was killed while traveling "to visit an Iraqi child injured by a bomb, part of her daily work of identifying and supporting innocent victims of this war," said CIVIC representative April Pedersen in a statement on the group's Web site.

Given the U.S. military's policy of not accounting for civilian casualties in Afghanistan and Iraq, Ruzicka's work played a key role in drawing attention to the human tragedy of the war and giving the world a well-researched accounting of the cost in innocent lives.

Ruzicka grew up in Lakeport and made New York City her base for her frequent trips to the war areas. She continued going into the increasingly violent Iraqi conflict areas even after most international aid organizations and relief agencies had bailed out.

In Iraq and Afghanistan, she worked 15-hour days going out to scenes of civilian carnage and painstakingly documenting the toll. She also struggled to obtain relief for the families of the victims.

CIVIC has Marla's online journals here. Apparently Marla Ruzicka was more than just a peace activist. Her mission, it seems, was to document the victim's of U.S. aggression. No documentation of those killed by terrorists, like herself.

Here are some more thoughts on Marla Ruzicka.

UPDATE: Via LGF this WSJ piece from 2002:

"Flaws in U.S. Air War Left Hundreds of Civilians Dead," blares the lead headline of yesterday's New York Times. "The American air campaign in Afghanistan, based on a high-tech, out-of-harm's way strategy, has produced a pattern of mistakes that has killed hundreds of Afghan civilians," claims reporter Dexter Filkins.

But the BBC reports that the Afghan government rejects Filkins's account: "A spokesman for Afghan President Hamid Karzai told the BBC that fewer than 500 civilians were believed to have been killed in US air strikes--a low figure considering the size of the military campaign."

Whom to believe? This passage from the Times account gives ample reason to doubt Filkins's objectivity:

Field workers with Global Exchange, an American organization that has sent survey teams into Afghan villages, say they have compiled a list of 812 Afghan civilians who were killed by American airstrikes. They say they expect that number to grow as their survey teams reach more remote villages.

Marla Ruzicka, a Global Exchange field worker in Afghanistan, said the most common factor behind the civilian deaths has been an American reliance on incomplete information to decide on targets.

"Smart bombs are only as smart as people on the ground," Ms. Ruzicka said. "Before you bomb, you should be 100 percent certain of who you are bombing."

So what is this Global Exchange, which Filkins describes only as "an American organization"? A look at its Web site makes clear it's a far-left outfit that opposed any military intervention in Afghanistan. Blogger Michael Moynihan has more details on Marla Ruzicka, who turns out to be a fervent admirer of Fidel Castro. There's also a "report" on the 2000 election dispute from the World Socialist Web Site, which quotes her as suggesting Republicans are terrorists:

Marla Ruzicka, 23, an officially accredited observer from the Green Party, commented on the tactics of the Bush supporters. She described them as "really nasty. There was one guy with a bald head, like a skinhead. They surrounded me and called me a baby killer, because of my support for the right to abortion. When I pointed out Bush's presiding over the death penalty, they said: no, no, that's justice. They're scary. Maybe they're the ones who should be on the terrorist lists."

Ruzicka, of course, is entitled to her opinions--but surely her extremist political agenda is relevant to Filkins's readers in determining how much weight to give to her comments. Meanwhile, buried in the 16th paragraph of Filkins's story is an admission that the whole thing is trumped up: "Indeed, the extraordinary accuracy of American airstrikes since they began in October has produced few of the types of disasters that plagued past wars, when bombs aimed at one target hit something else instead." Oh well, never mind.

Here is a press release from CIVIC Worldwide, the peace group Marla Ruzicka worked for:

Dear Friends of Marla and CIVIC,
It is with deep sadness and regret that I am writing to inform you that Marla died on Saturday at the age of 28 in a suicide bomb attack. Faiz, CIVIC's Iraq Country Director, was also killed. It is tragically ironic that two beautiful people who devoted their lives to helping innocent victims of war have now become them.

The attack occurred on the Baghdad Airport road as she traveled to visit an Iraqi child injured by a bomb, part of her daily work of identifying and supporting innocent victims of this war.

Only a few hours before her death, Marla sent me this photo of Harah. She was 3 months old when she was thrown from a vehicle just before it was destroyed by a U.S. rocket attack. Her entire family was killed. Hers just one example of the hundreds of lives Marla and Faiz touched with their heroic work.

Their deaths are profound losses not only for their family and friends, but for the entire world. There are precious few who have the courage to stand up and demand justice for all the victims of conflict wherever they may be. This troubled world cannot afford to lose people like them.

Marla overflowed with passion and had an incredible sense of obligation to help those less fortunate. She worked tirelessly to push the US military on its responsibility to keep a proper accounting of the consequences of military action on civilians in Iraq.

While her incredible passion and courage never faded, she was often torn between concern for her personal safety and a fervent desire to be in the field. She recently moved to New York City and was eager to establish a base after spending so many years living out of her suitcase and on the couches of friends, including mine.

While she was serious about her work, Marla never forgot to have fun and was always the life of the party. She had an incredible knack for making friends everywhere she went. Human rights workers, journalists and many others have been bolstered by her spirit and drive.

It is crucial that Marla and Faiz be commemorated and that their work continue. We will continue to shine a spotlight on innocent victims of war and ensure that their crucial work is continued.

Thank you all for your support.

A woman who led an effort to help those ravaged by violence in Iraq fell victim to the war herself when a car bomb killed her and two other people, officials said Sunday.

Marla Ruzicka, founder of Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict, died Saturday in the blast. She had been in Iraq conducting door-to-door surveys trying to determine the number of civilian casualties.

Ruzicka, 28, of Lakeport, founded CIVIC in 2003 and was instrumental in securing millions of dollars in aid money from the federal government for distribution in Iraq.

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) said it was Ruzicka's idea to put a special fund in last year's multibillion-dollar foreign aid bill to help Iraqis. ''She was constantly calling us to say [lawmakers were] moving too slowly,'' he said.

MSNBC:

Marla played many roles. She was a do-gooder to war victims, social maven, matchmaker and caretaker to many by simply taking the time to ask us how we were doing. Every journalist, NGO worker or government official knew Marla.

She kept people's spirits up by organizing weekly parties and never seemed to run out of energy. She made the war zones bearable and was perhaps one of the most selfless and fearless women I have known.

I remember one of the last conversations we had last year when she admitted to me that she was tired. It was obvious to many of us that Marla was so busy taking care of others that she was seriously neglecting herself. She talked about taking some time off but felt guilty about abandoning the the Iraqis she was trying to help. That was the last time we spoke and she promised not to go back to Baghdad until the security improved.

Then this morning at 7 a.m. I got a call telling me she had died. The irony that she was killed trying to help victims of violence is so painful. I still don't want to believe she is gone and yet I already miss her.

Her twin brother Mark told me that she was known in her home town as an activist. On the day Marla graduated and walked across the stage to get her high school diploma someone shouted, "Marla, go out and save the world!"