Women Marines in the front lines

There is a reason which is hard to dismiss:

Cultural sensitivities precluded male Marines from searching women, so the female Marines were meant to deflate fears of Iraqi men and women, said the battalion executive officer.

It may be just a start, but it does seem to be that:

In all, 14 women from Combat Logistics Battalion 8 were called away from their usual jobs of supplying ammunition, food, water, fuel and mail for the three-day offensive that kicked off in the pre-dawn hours Saturday about 15 miles northeast of Fallujah...

The battalion’s Lima and India companies absorbed the women into their ranks, giving them the primary mission to search women and children suspected of hiding anything....

And while it hasn’t been used here, [the insurgency has] been known to use female suicide bombers,” Liston said.

Sandra Jontz has the story in Stars and Stripes: Click here: European and Pacific Stars & Stripes