Reflection #6- Hanna

The topic of Foreign Policy in the presidential debates really bothered me. I don't think that either of these candidates are in a position to speak about foreign policy. This isn't to say that they are idiots, because I certainly am not in a position to speak about foreign policy either. It is just too much information for them to retain with everything else they have to know about too. In my Dad's job, he advises on Af-Pak special operations and Pacific special operations. Panetta will be on his way to a meeting and as he walks, people walk with him and speak very quickly about what is going on in the world and what they think the course of actions should be. This week the under Secretary of Defense has my Dad with him in Afghanistan because he doesn't know as much about the area and the people as my Dad knows. He will often rely on my Dad's opinion and other's opinions to come to a conclusion about a topic or solution. It isn't that He doesn't know anything, he just has a lot to know and can't know everything-- He also hasn't spent a majority of the past 11 years on the ground. I guess it is kind of like a...'Trickle Up Effect'?? The Civilian and Military positions in the office are all experts in the field they are in charge of...they give the information to Panetta (or an Under Secretary) and he kind of just gets a blurb of everything....so if the Secretary of Defense doesn't have time to know in depth about the concerns of the world around him, then why would the President or a Presidential candidate over this past year have a good understanding of where our Foreign Policy should be heading? We as voters need to be aware that although the role of the President is important, the course of actions that we take globally and militarily are more so in the hands of the Civilian and Military workers. We have all these politically appointed positions throughout government and the state department, but they spend all of their time trying to keep their job. This makes me feel a little weird about some of the people we go to school with because they are more than likely to end up in the political side of the state department than in an Intel. role.

The frustrations with the Presidential candidates acting like what they think of Foreign Policy isn't just something they have been briefed on all week, is just blowing hot air. Same for any frustrations felt about leadership positions in the State Department being politically appointed rather than being earned through being the hardest worker who cares the most about getting shit done. Hot air. It's annoying and a little cracked up but there really isn't much that we can do about it.