Have any U.S. soldiers brought home "war brides" since 2001?

[AmunRa]

@Camus

I take it you haven’t seen the average female GI.

Even the average female GI starts looking OK after a year in a combat zone. Hell in the army they call females that get sent to Korea “Queen for a year” and that’s not even a combat zone.

[Monty]

@Camus

The biggest factors are likely:
3) Most male GIs (aka kaffirs) would not likely gain the approval of a local female’s family to marry unless they converted to Islam

There are Iraqi Christians. I seriously doubt that they’d want the prospective son-in-law to convert to Islam before marriage.

I take it you haven’t seen the average female GI.

I’ve served with a number of females and there seemed to be no greater an incidence of ugliness than in the general population. I thought quite a lot of them were rather attractive, actually.

[Camus]

@Monty

There are Iraqi Christians. I seriously doubt that they’d want the prospective son-in-law to convert to Islam before marriage.

Iraqi Christians are a pretty small minority, even moreso now since the war.

I’ve served with a number of females and there seemed to be no greater an incidence of ugliness than in the general population. I thought quite a lot of them were rather attractive, actually.

But did you serve in the United States Army or another service (possibly of another country)? The term “Air Force cute” has a generally positive connotation when referring to females while “Army cute” has a pretty lackluster connotation.

[Camus]

@AK84

1. And other cultures send women to the lions?

Uh, what? Arab culture in general - as well as certain ethnic cultures in Afghanistan - are more protective and paternalistic towards women in comparison to Western standards. Is this news?

@AK84

2. Not true of Iraq in the slightest. And not true all over Afghanistan.

Perhaps I overstated it a bit, but it’s pretty clear that women in Iraq would have difficultly (socially and perhaps not legally anymore) traveling without their father/husband/male figure.

@AK84

3. Speculation

@US Dept. of State website

Here
Marriage of a Muslim to a Non-Muslim
Muslim women in Iraq are legally prohibited from marrying a non-Muslim. Therefore, the non-Muslim male must convert his religion to Islam and file a petition with the Social Status Court to declare that he is Muslim. Muslim men in Iraq are permitted to marry non-Muslim women if they are Christian or Jewish only. If the woman belongs to any other religion, she must convert to Islam.

[mlees]

There was (is?) something of a stereotype (trope?) where sailors on WestPAC would bring home a new wife from the Phillippines (or Thailand, or Korea, or whichever ports that were visited).

They can’t have known the lady for more than a couple weeks, but true love conquers all, I guess.

Do these fit the definition of War Bride, if rather loosely?

[Mississippienne]

This Newsweek articlefrom 2007 discussed several Iraqi war brides (and at least one war groom) who’ve married American soldiers. This article from 2006claims that only 1,500 Americans have filed to bring Iraqi fiancees or spouses to the US as of the time of its writing.

The only reference I can find to Afghani war brides is this 2007 article from Reuters, about two Americans converting to Islam and getting married. Unfortunately, the wording of the article makes it ambiguous if they were two male soldiers marrying Afghani women, or a male/female pair who converted to Islam and married each other.

[Monty]

@Camus

Iraqi Christians are a pretty small minority, even moreso now since the war.

Yes, but that does not negate my assertion. I also forgot something. There are also Muslims in the US Armed Forces. I believe that raises an interesting question: Are the people involved in the nuptials in this story of different faiths?

But did you serve in the United States Army or another service (possibly of another country)? The term “Air Force cute” has a generally positive connotation when referring to females while “Army cute” has a pretty lackluster connotation.

I served in three components of the United States Armed Forces. In order: Regular Army, Army Reserves, and Regular Navy.

[Hari_Seldon]

When my brother was in the Air Force, he was forbidden to fraternize with the local inhabitants. Even though they were all US citizens. This was in a place in western Alaska named Unalakleet (from which it still isn’t possible to see Russia). The locals were all Inuit (if that is the right word).

[Susanann]

I think there is a very obvious elementary reason why there are so few Afgan war brides.

[Cicero]

@Susanann

I think there is a very obvious elementary reason why there are so few Afgan war brides.

What would that be? <innocent eyes>

[AClockworkMelon]

Irrelevant spouting: My grandma was a war-bride from Belgium! I mean, there wasn’t really a war on at the time, but still, grandpa was enlisted there and I think it counts.