If Women Are In Combat, Men May Try To Protect Them, Santorum Says

On CNN last evening, Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum was asked about the Pentagon's plan to open up more jobs to women in the military — and to bring them closer to, but not right into, combat roles.

The former senator from Pennsylvania, while lauding the roles that women are playing in the U.S. military, said he has "concerns about women in front line combat" because it could be "a compromising situation where people naturally may do things that may not be in the interest of the mission because of other types of emotions that are involved."

This morning on NBC-TV's The Today Show, Santorum explained he wasn't trying to say that women are too emotional to be in combat.

"I think men have emotions when [they] see a woman in harm's way," Santorum said. "It's natural. It's very much in our culture to be protective. That was my concern. I think that's a concern with all of the militaries."

Thursday, we asked if it's inevitable that women will someday be part of combat missions. Today's question is:

(Note: As we always try to remember to say, that's a question — not a scientific survey.)

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