Will you gentlemen indulge me for a moment? I have thought about this for several days and decided to just go for it and ask.
With this hearts and minds thing a big deal, as well as COIN operations. Would it not be of importance to consider the cultural aspects of the job you are doing. In that training up a few women soldiers to handle the female aspect of dealing with a culture where women are hidden from non family males. Of course we all know that the Taliban have already hidden under burkhas to leave.. but having a pr of women soldiers to be able to check and yet not offend a family that could be potential allies would, it seems to me, a smart move.
Seems to me that working within the context of a culture to get what your military goals are are much better than doing things that ultimately offend, piss them off and create either a very active insurgency or just plain enemy's is the smarter of the two options.
I know that women are not supposed to be in combat roles, but they are there already like it or not. The Marines used them successfully at checkpoints in Iraq. So why could not they be used on night raids.
I am being simplistic, I know, but you all get the idea... Feel free to disabuse my idea and pick it apart. I just know that from traveling the mere attempt of me to integrate myself, American/gringa that I obviously am, as been met with much appreciation in the places I have been. It has gotten me oodles of mileage in the markets and from those whom I meet. Ergo, if something as simple as sticking a scarf on my head in Morroco, or trying to purchase petaya in my halting Queche gets me better deals. Then simply adding a couple of girls to the mix to check the women and not offend seems a simple solution to a potentially sticky situation.
AM
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