Are female troops being targeted? Heavy casualties yesterday

[undeterred]

The ABC news story on this suggests that women may be targeted as a strategy.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/IraqCoverage/story?id=878703&page=1

June 24, 2005 -- At least six Marines, three of them female, were killed after a suicide bomber rammed into their military vehicle Thursday night in Fallujah, Iraq, ABC News has confirmed.

The military said in a statement that two Marines were killed and 13 wounded, 11 of them women. If confirmed, it would be the largest one-day casualty count for women serving in the military since the start of the war in Iraq.

<snip>

At least 1,730 members of the U.S. military have died since the war began in March 2003, with 44 women among the casualties.

While every servicemember's death, regardless of gender, is a loss, targeting female troops may be the latest attempt to shock and destabilize U.S. forces. It was not clear whether this was an intentional attack on female troops, but many recent suicide attacks have targeted civilians, including women and children.

[Captain Hilts]

1. If they can tell which troops are male and which are female...

under all that armour, they are truly perceptive.

[cynatnite]

2. Unless they staked out the checkpoint ahead of time

They might have known by which ones were searching Iraqi women.

[catmandu57]

3. I don't believe they were a specific target

they just happened to be there.

[RC]

4. One can quiet often tell by the way a person moves.