Do people really not pay attention to what is said anymore? Yesterday, while being interview by John King about possible questions Santorum may face as Commander-In-Chief, Santorum was asked about having women in combat roles. Santorum responded with this answer:
“Look, I want to create every opportunity for women to be able to serve this country, and they do so in an amazing and wonderful way. They’re a great addition to the – and have been for a long time – to the armed services of our country,” Santorum said. “But I do have concerns about women in frontline combat.”
He added, “I think that can be a very compromising situation, where people naturally may do things that may not be in the interests of the mission because of other types of emotions that are involved. And I think that’s probably – you know, it already happens, of course, with the camaraderie of men in combat. But I think it would be even more unique if women were in combat. I think that’s probably not in the best interests of men, women or the mission.”
A lot of the pundits are taking Santorum to task for being sexist in saying that women would not be able to handle combat situations because of some emotional deficiency. I agree that Santorum may have been sexist but not in the way that you might think. Simply put – Rick Santorum may feel that men may not be able to handle the emotional strain of seeing women being mortally wounded in combat.
As men, we are hard wired to protect women from harm’s way. As an Army Chaplain, I have had to counsel men who have seen their comrades die on the field of battle. I can not imagine the added psychological pain of seeing a woman killed in such a fashion when actions could have been taken to save her life. I believe it is these “other types of emotions” that Santorum may be talking about.
That is the point Santorum is trying to make – would men jeopardize the military mission in order to save the life of a female soldier? Which is more important – a life of a female soldier or the success of the mission? Men have come to accept the cost of human life (some better than others) when that soldier is a fellow male; the historic ideal of chivalry would be put to the ultimate test if women were to serve as combat soldiers.
Faculty, Department of Political Science, Towson University. Graduate from Liberty University Seminary.