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Marla Ruzicka (December 31, 1976 – April 16, 2005) was an activist-turned-aid worker. She developed a unique approach to advocacy for civilian victims of war: she insisted that combatant governments had a legal and moral responsibility to compensate the families of civilians killed or injured in military conflicts. This accomplished three things: 1. It produced tangible benefits for families of civilians war victims; 2. It raised antiwar consciousness; 3. It demonstrated the high cost of modern war, by focusing on the suffering of civilians (so-called "collateral damage"). Ruzicka's greatest assets were her intense likeability and her high energy, which enabled her to communicate effectively with soldiers, government officials, other aid and NGO workers, and--most importantly of all--the media of all countries. She was killed by a car bomb blast in Baghdad. She founded the Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict (CIVIC), an organization that assists Iraqi victims of the 2003 US invasion of Iraq. She was born in Lakeport, California. Prior to launching the project in Iraq, she was based in Kabul, Afghanistan. Ruzicka worked with the San Francisco-based human rights organization Global Exchange to pressure the US government to set up a fund for Afghan families harmed in Operation Enduring Freedom. (from Wikipedia) keywords:Tibetan Buddhism, Buddhism, Tibet, Iraq, Afghanistan, Compassion, War