The United States has been involved in the ongoing wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria for many years. After nearly a decade of war with an enemy that cannot be compared to any past adversary, our military has been forced to evolve. To address all the problems that occur in a repressive society towards women we must evaluate the rules that have governed our forces. A primary focus of the assessment was the role of women in a combat environment. In wars and conflicts of the past, women were limited to the “front line”. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are very different. Our male soldiers are unable to talk to women due to cultural and religious constraints. This forced the evaluation of women in combat in this war. If Islamic cultural standards are ignored, the risk to the long-term mission of the United States is significant. The enemy is media savvy and uses every possible situation to exploit his strongest opponent. The risks and benefits of allowing women to play a greater role in warfare must be carefully weighed. Even if the adversary exploits the situation, the war itself has tested the nation's economic and political strength. Both men and women were involved in multiple missions resulting in loss of life and serious injury. This could be true of any war in which the United States has been engaged. But this particular war has no definitive enemy or adversary, no laws or rules, no real front lines. Because the adversary is motivated by ideology, the US military has been engaged in a chess game of strategy, balanced with traditional warfare tactics. This is a very asymmetric war. Due to asymmetric warfare; women need to play a more active role in combat. Like... middle of the paper ......makes it impossible to guarantee that American female soldiers are not in combat. Therefore the role played by women soldiers has been redefined by necessity. Works Cited Army Public Affairs. Women in the US Army. nd 04 03 2011 .Aspin, Les. "The New York Times." January 13, 1994. 04 03 2011 .Garcia, J. Malcolm. “The Virginia Quarterly Review.” July 2008. VQR. February 26, 2011 .Goodwin, Liz. A female suicide bomber kills two American soldiers in Afghanistan. 23 07 2010. 04 03 2011 .McKenzie, Kenneth. The revenge of the Melians: asymmetric threats and the next QDR. Washington DC: NDU Press, 2000.