Marla Ruzicka “youthful representative of a certain kind of not-yet-lost American idealism”

December 31st, was supposed to be Marla Ruzicka’s 30th birthday.
Marla has founded the Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict (CIVIC) and convinced Congress to create an Iraqi War Victims Fund. Lawmakers
realized that financial compensation for families of civilians
accidentally injured or killed by the U.S. military is important for
helping them cope financially. A compassionate response might convince
the families that Americans feel sorry about their loss; therefore they
might not hate Americans, i.e. Marla was advancing US interests. Newsweek‘s Baghdad bureau chief wrote
that “Marla was alienated from much of the human rights community
because she chose to work with the military instead of always against
it.” As Peter Bergen wrote in the Washington Post:

Ruzicka
initially came off like a blond surfer girl (she was much given to
exclaiming “Dude!” and “You rock!”), but underneath the effervescent
exterior was a tough-minded humanitarian advocate who had little
tolerance for leftist anti-war demonstrators. Ruzicka understood that
wars happen despite the demonstrations, and she wanted to do something
concrete to alleviate the subsequent damage to human life.

Rolling Stone Magazine described her as a “youthful representative of a certain kind of not-yet-lost American idealism.” It’s a good, balanced and heart-wrenching biographic article.