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was always amazed at how composed Marla remained amid the violence and confusion of Iraq. One of my favorite memories of her was when I was sitting in the middle of the Palestine Hotel lobby in Baghdad, surrounded by a confusing swirl of soldiers, officials, and reporters. Fear swept over me. What was I doing here? I had come as a freelancer, with no experience covering a war. Just as I was quietly freaking out, Marla appeared in the dusty, harried scene. She was the picture of calm in a perfect French braid and long blue dress. She was like...

Who Killed Marla Ruzicka? By David Horowitz and Ben JohnsonFrontPageMagazine.com | May 3, 2005Marla Ruzicka, a 28-year-old political activist, was killed in Iraq on April 16 when a suicide bomber attacked a convoy of contractors on the airport road, blowing up the Mercedes she was in with her translator Faiz Al-Salaam. Ruzicka, whose ebullience earned her the nickname “Bubbles,” suffered burns over 90 percent of her body. Her last words, according to the medic who attended her, were, “I’m alive.”Her tragic death was a tribute to her bravery since she knew the risks and her fate was thus almost...

LAKEPORT, Calif. - Activist Marla Ruzicka was remembered Saturday for her dedication to humanitarian causes and her personal mission of counting civilian war deaths in Iraq. Friends, family, colleagues and journalists offered memories of a passionate, dedicated, young woman who accomplished much in 28 years. Mourners came from around the world for the service, which lasted more than three hours. Kevin Danaher, co-founder of San Francisco-based Global Exchange, a nonprofit international human rights organization, said Ruzicka's magic was understanding and showing unconditional love. "That's why a 28-year-old woman from a small town in Northern California has so many people around...

LAKEPORT, California (AP) -- An American activist who was killed by a car bomb in Iraq earlier this month was remembered Saturday for her dedication to humanitarian causes and her personal mission of counting civilian casualties of war. Many of the more than 600 mourners, including friends, family, colleagues and journalists who traveled from around the world for her funeral, shared memories of Marla Ruzicka's boundless energy that helped her accomplish much in her 28 years. Kevin Danaher, co-founder of San Francisco-based Global Exchange, a nonprofit international human rights organization, said Ruzicka's magic was understanding and showing unconditional love. "That's...

LAKEPORT, California (AP) -- An American activist who was killed by a car bomb in Iraq earlier this month was remembered Saturday for her dedication to humanitarian causes and her personal mission of counting civilian casualties of war. Many of the more than 600 mourners, including friends, family, colleagues and journalists who traveled from around the world for her funeral, shared memories of Marla Ruzicka's boundless energy that helped her accomplish much in her 28 years. Kevin Danaher, co-founder of San Francisco-based Global Exchange, a nonprofit international human rights organization, said Ruzicka's magic was understanding and showing unconditional love. "That's...

When The New York Times, “Nightline,” and CNN nominate a young blonde for sainthood ahead of the Pope, it’s time for a reality check. Especially when that blonde, Marla Ruzicka’s sole purpose is to legitimize our enemies, cause problems for U.S. troops already in harms way, and morally equivocate dead terrorists with victims of 9/11. Jane Fonda lite—but unfortunately without having been spat upon by right-thinking veterans. The recent death of Ruzicka, an American “activist” in Iraq, elicited an orgy of gush—everywhere from Time Magazine to The Guardian of London to Al-Jazeera. A 28-year-old San Franciscan, Ruzicka was in Iraq...

Treasonatrix Barbie: Meet the Real Marla Ruzicka April 21, 2005 By Debbie Schlussel When The New York Times, “Nightline,” and CNN nominate a young blonde for sainthood ahead of the Pope, it’s time for a reality check. Especially when that blonde, Marla Ruzicka’s sole purpose is to legitimize our enemies, cause problems for U.S. troops already in harms way, and morally equivocate dead terrorists with victims of 9/11. Jane Fonda lite—but unfortunately without having been spat upon by right-thinking veterans. The recent death of Ruzicka, an American “activist” in Iraq, elicited an orgy of gush—everywhere from Time Magazine to The...

An instinctual sense of compassion and justice fueled Marla Ruzicka's life, from her junior high school days when she led a student protest against the first Persian Gulf War to years working with the needy and oppressed around the world. Still coping with the longtime Bay Area activist's tragic death in an Iraqi suicide bombing Saturday, Ruzicka's relatives and other local activists said they planned to carry on her work without her. They hope to keep alive the advocacy group, the Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict, the Lake County native founded in 2002 that has won millions of dollars...

Marla Ruzicka would slip into town to recharge herself, physically and emotionally. For the human rights crusader, this was home -- light-years away from the world's deadliest flash points, the machinery of war, the corridors of power.

SAN FRANCISCO - 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...

SAN FRANCISCO - A woman who founded a humanitarian group to aid civilian casualties in Iraq has died in a car bombing in Baghdad, 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, founded CIVIC in 2003 to "mitigate the impact of the conflict and its aftermath on the people of Iraq by ensuring that timely and effective life-saving assistance...