Newt Gingrich accused Rick Santorum of misunderstanding the military last week, citing Santorum’s much-publicized comments about women serving in military combat roles.
Santorum originally said that he had concerns about women in combat positions in the military — specifically, that they might cause men in the same units to fight differently. “I think that could be a very compromising situation … where people naturally, you know, may do things that may not be in the interests of the mission because of other types of emotions that are involved,” he told John King from CNN.
Gingrich, who frequently touts his childhood as an “army brat,” argued that Santorum made his argument on weak grounds that don’t reflect the true nature of the military.
“I think that Rick completely misunderstands the nature of modern warfare by his comments,” he said. “The fact is, if you’re serving in uniform in Iraq or Afghanistan, or any place in modern warfare, you are in combat. Whatever your technical assignment, whether you’re a truck driver or you’re working with logistics or a military police person, you’re in combat.”
Santorum’s original comments, which were widely interpreted as having to do with women’s emotions, brought him a great deal of negative press. Just a few headlines against Santorum read: “Is Rick Santorum facing a brewing ‘women problem?” “Expert Civilian Rick Santorum Theorizes about Combat Conditions,” and “Santorum Insults the Military with his Comments about Women.”
