The following podcast contains advertising.

To access an ad-free version of the LawFair podcast,

become a material supporter of LawFair at patreon.com slash law fair.

That's patreon.com slash law fair.

Also, check out LawFair's other podcast offerings,

rational security, chatter, law fair no bull, and the aftermath.

In many of the places where the insurgency was strongest,

meant that male soldiers could not have access to women.

Because they were conservative in traditional societies,

in which it was absolutely inappropriate for men who were not related by marriage or by blood

to be talking to women, which meant that everything women saw and knew and understood

about their community was going unknown.

And it also meant that if you wanted to hide a person or a thing that was then

being sought by a ranger or a seal team, you could do so in women's quarters

because nobody was going to go and search them.

And so this security gap and the fact that they could not fill it with any of the talent

that they had at the time was the only reason why Admiral McCraven put in a request

for forces saying we need women on the battlefield here.

We need female soldiers who will go out there on these missions to fill this gap.

I'm Cody Poplin and this is LawFair Podcast January 23rd, 2016.

That was Gail Zemak Lemon, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations,

journalist and author of the book, Ashley's War,

...