"But the lone Iraqi woman in the house wouldn't enter the room without a veil. " Via Pamela Hess (United Press International)

The curious case of the Iraqi woman who refused to refused to join the six men in her own house tipped off one alert Marine Sgt. who kept thinking why should a woman be so adamant about going into the same room with six men who supposedly were her relatives. Marines of the one seven regiment had just been shot at by a sniper who vanished into the nearby houses and now the Marines were questioning residents inside their houses. At one house they found six men and one woman. For questioning, the Marines moved the six men into one room and when they asked the woman to join them she refused. "She was obstinate," said Capt. Andrew J. Nelson, a company commander with the 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment." The Marines insisted. She refused. Finally, she relented but first put on a veil. Why should an Iraqi woman need a veil in her own house....unless the men were not relatives but strangers. This much cultural awareness encouraged the young Marine Sgt to haul all six men in for further questioning and later discovered that three of the six were snipers. The new combat zone in the 21st. century requires very savvy Marines.

Marines focus on small units - (United Press International): "But the lone Iraqi woman in the house wouldn't enter the room with the men"