Last Words from Anna Politkovskaya

From today's WaPo, a previously unpublished essay for "Another Sky" by Politkovskaya.

Here is how it starts:

I am a pariah.

That is the result of my journalism throughout the years of the Second Chechen War, and of publishing books abroad about life in Russia and the Chechen War. In Moscow, I am not invited to press conferences or gatherings that Kremlin officials might attend, in case the organizers are suspected of harboring sympathies toward me. Despite this, all the top officials talk to me, at my request, when I am writing articles or conducting investigations -- but only in secret, where they can't be observed, in the open air, in squares, in secret houses that we approach by different routes, like spies.

Take a moment to read the rest. And reflect for a moment as buckarooskidoo reminds us in an earlier post, "She told the truth to power, and no one does that in Russia without paying the price."

Rest in peace Anna.