Just heard about this on Air America’s “The Rachel Maddow Show”:
LA Times story:
American woman killed in Baghdad attack
The victim helped train Iraqi political parties. Three security guards also are slain in the ambush.
BAGHDAD — An American woman working for a U.S. nonprofit organization in Iraq to help strengthen the fledgling government was among four people killed Wednesday in a roadside ambush.
The woman, whose name was withheld pending notification of her family, worked for the National Democratic Institute, a Washington organization that advises political parties around the world.
Les Campbell, director of the group’s operations in the Middle East and North Africa, said the three other people killed — a Hungarian, a Croat and an Iraqi — were bodyguards from the private security firm Unity Resources Group.
The woman’s name was Andi Parhamovich, according to Randi Rhodes‘ personal show web site. Up until a few months ago, she was a member of the public relations department at Air America.
Rachel was devastated announcing the news at the beginning of her show. It was apparently first announced during Al Franken’s show; I haven’t listened to the podcasts of either him or Randi to hear how they handled the news.
The war comes home to haunt all of us yet again. For those of you marching on January 27th, whether in Washington DC or in locales across the country (I’ll likely be in San Francisco if I can get myself into marching shape), hold Andi and all the victims of this cruel and unnecessary occupation in your thoughts and prayers.
Godspeed, Andi…
Update [2007-1-18 19:14:19 by Cali Scribe]: Tip o’ the nib to Kossack peraspera, for the following MSNBC article:
Also available in orange…
Photobucket is down so I can’t access my candle graphic. 🙁 So please accept this excerpt from the Requiem Mass (I’m partial to Fauré’s version):
In paradisum deducant te angeli,
in tuo adventu
suscipiant te martyres,
et perducant te
in civitatem sanctam Jerusalem.
Chorus angelorum te suscipiat,
et cum Lazaro quondam paupere
aeternam habeas requiem.
May the angels lead you into paradise,
may the martyrs receive you
in your coming,
and may they guide you
into the holy city, Jerusalem.
May the chorus of angels receive you
and with Lazarus once poor
may you have eternal rest.
Well done, good and faithful servant…
for Andi
and my deepest condolences to her family. Another selfless human being torn away at such a young age. I spit on this administration for what they have wrought.
I heard about the killings yesterday but did not know her name. All that I can say is that we all will die. Some of us will go softly and quietly and some of us will not. Some of us will demand to live our lives fully and stand up stretched to our full height for what we believe in. The only thing that will keep Iraq from more rivers of blood is if Iraqis can learn how to live in peace with each other and solve their disputes at the ballot box. It is an almost impossible insurmountable goal but it is almost the only goal that will really save lives at this point and the damage is already done. George Bush did not kill this woman. This woman is so much larger than George W Bush is he can’t even hope to finger the hem of her garments. This woman died for something so much bigger and better than anything he and his crew can ever hope to aspire to. I will not give them her life. She died doing everything she could do to undo the doings of grossly evil men and in an almost impossible doubtlessly life threatening situation! She was a lioness!