Brave Women Under Fire in Iraq

By Katy Litwak, Communications Intern

April 29, 2005

The recent deaths of two brave women highlight the tragic consequences of the war in Iraq for non-combatants. Countless innocent civilians have lost their lives. Add to that list a young humanitarian worker and a member of Iraq's interim government.

On April 27 Lamia Abed Khadouri, a member of Iraq's transitional National Assembly, was shot and killed on the doorstep of her home in Baghdad. Khadouri was a member of outgoing Prime Minister Ayad Allawi's legislative bloc and one of about 90 women serving in the 275-member assembly. She is the first assembly member to be killed since January's national elections, after several failed attempts on Allawi and another lawmaker.

"Iraqi women have been asked to represent their country by serving in its government and they are bravely doing so," said NOW President Kim Gandy. "However, the unsafe conditions that remain put these women at incredible risk."

According to U.S. Gen. Richard Meyers, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, the threat of insurgency in Iraq continues to be high.

Earlier this month, Marla Ruzicka, a 28-year-old humanitarian aid worker from California, was killed in Baghdad by a suicide car bomber. Ruzicka was traveling on the dangerous highway to the U.S. military base at Baghdad International Airport when the bomb went off. Faiz Ali Salaam, her 43-year-old associate and driver was also killed.

Two years ago, Ruzicka founded the Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict (CIVIC). CIVIC works in Iraq to document how many civilians have been hurt and killed by U.S. forces, and to help them and their families obtain proper compensation. In 2003 she organized surveyors across Iraq to document civilian casualties. Prior to that, she organized a similar project in Afghanistan.

Ruzicka dedicated her life to helping innocent people. She went door-to-door to interview people who had lost family members or had their property destroyed by the war. Most other foreigners travel in armored vehicles and live behind tight security in the Green Zone, but Ruzicka worked in close contact with Iraqi civilians, traveling to places others feared. She was on her way to visit an injured boy when she was killed.

According to Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-VT., Ruzicka's careful statistics and documentation, along with her lobbying of the media and lawmakers, helped secure $20 million toward helping Iraqi and Afghan civilians affected by U.S military action.

"What she wanted to do was eminently sensible," said Sen. Leahy. "Unfortunately, things that are eminently sensible sometimes get lost in bureaucracy without a champion. She was a champion I would follow anywhere."

"Ruzicka's courage and compassion proved that individuals really can make a difference," said Gandy. "But her death, and the death of Lamia Abed Khadouri, calls into question what the U.S. is really accomplishing in Iraq."