Who is your "Expert"

There are now hundreds of experts on my little country to the East, they claim to know my people, my culture and my world.  I don't believe it.  I live this culture, eat this food, talk this language and I barely understand it.  How is it possible that people go to Kabul, stay in western hotels and eat in restaurants you can only get into with a non-afghan passport, and come back as experts?  Since when do we expect so little from the people we allow to guide us in important decisions (aside from the Sarah Palin phenomenon)?  Who are these experts?  Who are your experts?  I know the people I listened to when deciding on what I thought about the surge, who shaped your impression and opinion on Obama's policy?  I'm curious to know.