Rick Santorum thinks serving in government is the same as serving your country in the military in combat. He says he grew up around veterans and that was one of the reasons he decided to become a politician.

As he seeks the Republican Party nomination for president, he'd said that serving in government keeps the country free, the same as serving in the military keeps us free.

"I didn't see working in government service and being in politics as anything but serving your country, and doing in some ways -- in a civilian sense -- what a lot of folks did in a military sense, "Santorum said last month on the campaign trail. "And I saw it as something that is honorable and good to do.

"The rest of the country doesn't function unless the government keeps us free and we need people in politics just like we need people in uniform to do that."

This is all very puzzling. If he grew up around veterans and found their influence as strong as he claims, why did he not chose to serve in the military? Disregarding that, the question arises as to how a career in politics helps keep the country free. He is a little weak on cause and effect.

The thought is that if it weren't for the military keeping the country free there wouldn't be a government, or not a government of the citizens choosing.

Santorum entered government at age 32, left after losing his U.S. Senate seat in 2006 and became a lobbyist at the relatively young age of 49. He used all his service in government to make a buck.

So there is a difference, Rick. Please let me explain. You see some kid who lost his legs in Afghanistan, or Iraq, or for that matter the Gulf War or even Vietnam, is unlikely to find a job as a lobbyist. Serving in combat carries greater risk than schmoozing with corporate big shots over lunch in some high-priced oasis in Washington.

The difference, my dear Rick, is quite profound and you do not have a clue.

Military service in combat is a tough life. There is no 9-to-5, no hotel suites to crash after a hard day, no gourmet restaurants and a cool martini to unwind with. You would be surprised at just how not like all you have experienced is everything they will experience.

Days in combat are hard indeed, Rick. I don't mean a hard day wrangling with other lobbyists to place your client at the head of the line at the government's trough, or twisting legislative arms, I mean hard days of other very intense people trying very hard to kill you.

Instead you get to sleep on the ground, maybe if you're lucky, wrapped in a plastic poncho, you get to eat out of a can, maybe the contents of the can are warm, maybe not.

You don't get a martini, maybe a little strange-tasting water.

You don't get a shower or even a roof over your head. If it rains, or snows you get quite wet and quite cold.

And those people are still trying to kill you. Day and night they are relentless.

We all know you didn't mean to compare you dreadfully harsh existence behind the smoking pork barrel as behind the smoking barrel of a rifle.

We know you are dreadfully unaware of the price, the real price these combat troops pay, and will pay for the rest of their lives so that, please forgive me, the government is allowed to function and make the country amenable even for lobbyists.

The men and women who keep our country free, and are willing to give their lives to keep it free, keep it free for everybody. Even those who might not deserve the abundance and excess that freedom permits. They never question that.

(Morgan Strong, who served with the U.S. Marines in Vietnam, is a former professor of Middle Eastern History, and was an adviser to "60 Minutes" on the Middle East.)

(United Press International's "Outside View" commentaries are written by outside contributors who specialize in a variety of important issues. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of United Press International. In the interests of creating an open forum, original submissions are invited.)