W. Todd Akin: “I have to say in terms of sympathy, I understand the motivation I believe and the interest in our troops that this…”

“I have to say in terms of sympathy, I understand the motivation I believe and the interest in our troops that this legislation is designed to deal with. I have two marines that are my sons. I have visited the one when he was in Fallujah. I talked to a number of their troops. I think I understand the stresses that are involved in warfare, also as somebody who served as an officer myself. That said, however, I think there is a danger when we take a look at a specific problem and we try to micromanage a solution from the position of Congress. It didn't work during the War of Independence. And the trade-offs as to whether or not you are going to leave somebody in theater longer, there are a lot of different factors that you have to balance and a lot of special situations. To give you one that seems a little bit obvious, I suspect that General Petraeus and other generals have been in theater a pretty long time. They probably would have to get a special waiver from the President to do their jobs. We understand it would be better if they could take a break and see their families more, but the specific situation in their situation calls for the fact that this sort of blanket rule we are going to top- down impose as Congressmen or Congresswomen doesn't make a whole lot of sense.”