The General Election

[Landlord]

How does one empirically fail at being Secretary of State? What are the clear, statistical markers that need to be met?

[cm husker]

How does one empirically fail at being Secretary of State? What are the clear, statistical markers that need to be met?

A failure to gain political consensus to effectively curb the exponential growth of an international military and terroristic threat may not be perfectly quantifiable, but it certainly qualifies as a failure of the state dept, and therefore its head.

 

I struggle to think of examples where she made progress during her leadership.

[BigRedBuster]

Let me ask this....what are her great accomplishments as ether a senator or Secretary of State?

[QMany]

Does she get credit for the bin Laden raid?

[BigRedBuster]

Should she? Is that the only thing you are coming up with?

[Landlord]

Let me ask this....what are her great accomplishments as ether a senator or Secretary of State?

 

 

This isn't something that ordinary citizens can really answer, because we have no inside knowledge of all of the foiled plans against our country. We only see the things that we mess up on.

[cm husker]

The Secretary of State isn't responsible for military action or homeland defense. Let's be clear on that, for good or bad.

 

That said, an effective SoS would secure permissions to use territories as operating bases or to enter a territory to carry out a special operation. Did the Pakistanis approve the raid on the bin laden compound? I actually don't recall.

[QMany]

Should she? Is that the only thing you are coming up with?

According to her website:

5. Stood up for LGBT rights at home and abroad.

As secretary of state, Hillary made LGBT rights a focus of U.S. foreign policy. She lobbied for the first-ever U.N. Human Rights Council resolution on human rights and declared that “gay rights are human rights.” And here at home, she made the State Department a better, fairer place for LGBT employees to work.

6. Helped expand health care and family leave for military families.

Hillary worked across the aisle to expand health care access for members of the National Guard and reservists—making sure those who served and their families had access to health care when they returned home. And she worked to expand the Family Medical Leave Act, allowing families of those wounded in service to their country to take leave in order to care for their loved ones.

7. Negotiated a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

As our nation’s chief diplomat, Hillary didn’t back down when the stakes were high. As Hamas rockets rained down on Israel, Hillary went to the region immediately. Twenty-four hours after she landed, a ceasefire went into effect—and that year became Israel’s quietest in a decade.

[QMany]

The Secretary of State isn't responsible for military action or homeland defense. Let's be clear on that, for good or bad.

 

That said, an effective SoS would secure permissions to use territories as operating bases or to enter a territory to carry out a special operation. Did the Pakistanis approve the raid on the bin laden compound? I actually don't recall.

[cm husker]

What does that picture demonstrate?

[QMany]

What does that picture demonstrate?

It would seem she was involved. I don't know to what extent.

[cm husker]

 

What does that picture demonstrate?

It would seem she was involved. I don't know to what extent.

Observer would probably be the best characterization. Sort of like the VP's role - not responsible.

 

Of course if things had gone south, she would have had a role in resolving the diplomatic aftermath.

[Moiraine]

To answer the question, Pakistan did not have knowledge of the attack before it happened.

[cm husker]

To answer the question, Pakistan did not have knowledge of the attack before it happened.

Thank you. That was my loose recollection, due to security concerns.

 

I think it's hard to legitimately credit her with the raid's results.

 

We'd have to know more about whenever state dept activities helped develop intel leading to the raid, but that seems quite unlikely, as that's the function of CIA, DOD and some alphabet agencies we probably don't even know about.

[Danny Bateman]

State department does indeed have some input into strategic military decisions. For example, they were given the ability to weigh into CIA drone strikes in Pakistan. The CIA did not like this- they did not want diplomats meddling in their affairs-- and often gave the State Dept unreasonably short windows to respond securely. This led to the State Dept using low side or unsecured communication channels out of necessity, or miss giving their input into the given strike.

 

They affirmed support for the vast majority of strikes and only dissented on a couple, IIRC.

 

She definitely had input on the Bin Laden thing, As we've said, Obama had to weigh the diplomatic ramifications of a successful and a failed siege. Clinton would've been consulted. She was a part of the decision making process.

 

I'd count the Iran nuclear deal as a selling point. Some deal is better than no deal. Though it looks like we're back to the drawing board on that one. Now at least we have a framework with which to hold Iran responsible since it doesn't appear they want to comply,