By Andrew L. Jaffee

…When they [Iraqi women] learned recruits were being sought, Genan, Kadmia, 35, and Fatma, 27, said they jumped at the chance. …

They also felt emboldened, they said, by seeing women among the U.S. troops patrolling and fighting in Ramadi’s streets.

“They left their children at home, not a few houses away, but thousands of miles away,” Genan said. “If American women can do it, we can do it.” …

- AP

These brave Iraqi women have overcome Islamic cultural taboos to serve their nation and bring home the bacon (not the PC term for making money, I’m sure) — $500.00/month. U.S. attempts to recruit new soldiers into the Iraqi security services are going well in Ramadi in Anbar province. The new recruits include fourteen women:

… One of the trainers at the academy, 2nd Lt. Kristy Goddard, 29, of Oscaloosa, Iowa, said she and her colleagues weren’t ready for the women to be so well-prepared and enthusiastic.

“They studied ahead of time,” she said. “They were way motivated. They knew there would be a lot of obstacles to overcome and they wanted to do it anyway.” …

… When they interact with their male colleagues — U.S. military troops still supervise the station — they maintain an air of professional composure, their faces betraying no emotion, but when they step into their “office” with a female reporter, they chatter energetically and rave about their new jobs and the accompanying sense of freedom.

The women said their male colleagues treat them with respect, but probably gossip behind their backs.

“I love what I’m doing now,” Fatma said. “Just like the men are protecting their country, I want to protect my country. That’s why I’m doing this.”

Even so, her family disapproves. She said six of her sisters, two brothers and most of her extended family won’t speak to her. Only her mother and one sister have anything to do with her. Her husband of seven years has threatened divorce.

“‘Either quit the job or divorce me,’ he said. I will pick the job,” she said.

Another woman said she fears for her life after a photograph of the group was published in a local newspaper, even after the editor assured them it wouldn’t appear.

The other women said their families, especially their husbands, were reluctant at first to see them working but have come around.

Fatma says she earns more than her husband, who works temporary construction jobs. Genan said her husband doesn’t mind helping out with the three children, ages 3, 9 and 11.

“They used to support us, now we’re just returning the favor,” Genan says.

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Related: Islam, Iraq, Feminism

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