The Growing Importance Of Women Soldiers In The Afghan Theater

Female Marines at Camp Pendleton, Calif., will be sent to Helmand Province next month to try to win over rural Afghan women. Monica Almeida/The New York Times

Letting Women Reach Women in Afghan War -- New York Times

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. — The Marines in a recent “cultural awareness” class scribbled careful notes as the instructor coached them on do’s and don’ts when talking to villagers in Afghanistan: Don’t start by firing off questions, do break the ice by playing with the children, don’t let your interpreter hijack the conversation.

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My Comment: I am confident that these women soldiers will be successful. Women in Islamic countries may play a subservient role in public, but as one of my Middle Eastern friends put it to me bluntly .... when the doors are closed they rule the roost at home. Putting our own women into this "roost" will significantly impact the dynamics of the Taliban insurgency.