They're in convoys, taking the same risks as the male solders and Marines.

I think that the real emotion is one of great pride.

Hijackers may be Chechens.

No surpise in Istanbul.

It is a very volatile situation, one that has been going on for a month and will not go away. The U.S. has made it pretty clear they will react with overwhelming force if they feel threatened.

This, they say, is the definitive battle for Samarra.

This is definitely an embarrassment for the Turkish Government.

It's one of the things that the Marines and the Army feel they're lacking right now, particularly the Marines, which have very few women in those roles.

They're in convoys, taking the same risks as the male solders and Marines. The biggest risk here at the moment are those roadside bombs, the explosive devices. They're getting increasingly sophisticated and increasingly powerful. And there seems to be almost a never-ending supply of suicide bombers, all of them said to be foreign fighters still coming through here.