I didn't agree with her politics....but gotta admire a young woman like this who stands up for what she believes in and is active in getting it done. Although it's pretty crazy to go into a war zone like this. She was a leftist....but her parents are Republicans. They say they could never tell any of their kids what to do....they just told her to be careful. She cared for the Iraqi civilians.....but the insurgents and bad guys didn't care a thing about her.




Iraq Car Bomb Kills American Activist

Apr 17, 9:19 PM (ET)

By BRIAN SKOLOFF

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - 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, which also killed an Iraqi and another foreigner, officials said. She had been in Iraq conducting door-to-door surveys trying to determine the number of civilian casualties in the country.

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."

http://apnews1.iwon.com//article/200...D89HGMA00.html

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"This is a time for a national imperative not to fail in Iraq." Condoleeza Rice, January 11, 2007

She certainly was not an activist in the bad sense of the word. When I think of activists, I think of some idiot throwing red paint on fur wearers, or blowing up SUVs or even Jane Fonda and her stupidity. But this lady was special. She didn't just carry signs and march to help these war victims, she went over there and did it herself. She surely was a brave, caring person. I know her parents are proud of her. Hopefully, that will help them in their grief.

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Do you know what it's like to fall in the mud and get kicked... in the head... with an iron boot? Of course you don't, no one does. It never happens. It's a dumb question... skip it.

whats to "admire"? - she had bad luck, thats all. i don't admire bad luck, as far as im concerned...she can keep it. calling her brave is a good laugh as well.

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I am a stone, I do not move. I take my time, I let him come closer. I have only one bullet. I aim at his eye. I do not tremble, I have no fear.

Apparently she did work in Afganistan as well as Iraq. I didn't believe in her cause but I do believe she was brave.

dictionary says bravery is courage :

cour·age ( P ) Pronunciation Key (kûrj, kr-)
n.
The state or quality of mind or spirit that enables one to face danger, fear, or vicissitudes with self-possession, confidence, and resolution; bravery.

i don't see who her presence in iraq in anyway conforms to that definition.

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I am a stone, I do not move. I take my time, I let him come closer. I have only one bullet. I aim at his eye. I do not tremble, I have no fear.

But she was YOUR kind of person: she didn't believe in the war and she once actually interrupted Sec of State Colin Powell during a speech. I'm sure you'll have a new-found admiration for her after finding this out.

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"This is a time for a national imperative not to fail in Iraq." Condoleeza Rice, January 11, 2007

im fully aware (apart from powel bit) about what her hippy, tree-hugging politics were. who's side she was on has no bearing*. I don't admire her one little bit, she's no more brave that one of the unlucky people who happened to get splattered by a bus on their way to work this morning. Death/Geography/Morals - has no mention in the dictorial definition of brave. she was unlucky, to bad, rather her than me.



* i use that lightly, just because she was anti-war i wouldn't affiliate her views with mine

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I am a stone, I do not move. I take my time, I let him come closer. I have only one bullet. I aim at his eye. I do not tremble, I have no fear.

First of all....I never said anything about her being "brave." I said she was someone who believed in something and then stood up and acted on those beliefs. Maybe you don't understand that quality in someone.

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"This is a time for a national imperative not to fail in Iraq." Condoleeza Rice, January 11, 2007

..travelling the streets of Baghdad with a driver and an interpreter, with wisps of blond hair peeking out of her burqa or hijab these days has to take some "bravery"....

Just my opinion

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"Only a fool tests the depth of the water with both feet."

jp5 - i never said you said brave. i was reffering in that aspect...back to what the 12thman said, not you.

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MUNKO1970 - seriosuly though, how many foregin civilians have moved into iraq 50,000 100,000? i dunno - but im sure those numbers aren't too far off.

it wasn't even like she was assasinated for being white...she was killed in a random car bomb, that was ther to kill arabs as well, so it wasn't like she was even targeted for being white.

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I am a stone, I do not move. I take my time, I let him come closer. I have only one bullet. I aim at his eye. I do not tremble, I have no fear.