on patrols in Afghanistan since 2002. Given the articles I've read on this one, I saw no opportunity to use any females. Obviously, when the second batch came out, the Marines shouldn't have allowed themselves to be distracted by the one wounded female but they did. That happens -- but they learned and won't make that mistake again.

Next time they'll have the female Marines -- or Soldiers (since the Army has more females in Afghanistan than do the Marines) -- check all 'females' and hold 'em under (female if possible) guard until the action is completed. Early days, new unit, new AO -- there's always a learning curve.

One take on this one could be that the new rules do not work as they were used to manipulate and escape -- but it's way too early to say that, certainly based only on a couple of fragmentary news articles. Time will tell.