Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

top

World

US Democrats hit Trump, clash over jihadist fight in debate

– ‘Lust for regime toppling’ –

While the Democrats united against Trump, Sanders clashed at length with Clinton over how to tackle extremism, opposing her call for a no-fly zone over Syria and for focusing on ousting that country’s President Bashar al-Assad.

Sanders, who is more comfortable talking about economic inequality and financial abuse, topics that are the cornerstones of his campaign, was deeply sceptical.

“The United States at the same time cannot successfully fight Assad and ISIS,” he said. “ISIS now is the major priority. Let’s get rid of Assad later.”

O’Malley pointedly looked back at how several US-backed regime changes fomented chaos. He singled out Libya in 2011, when Clinton was the top US diplomat and supported ousting Muammar Gaddafi, only to see the country descend into chaos, with large swaths now susceptible to becoming jihadist safe havens.

“We probably let our lust for regime toppling get ahead of the practical considerations for stability in that region,” O’Malley said.

Sanders piled on, reminding viewers of Clinton’s 2002 Senate vote authorizing president George W. Bush’s use of military force in Iraq.

Clinton insisted she was not ready to send US boots into Syria and Iraq, saying she had a strategy to “combat and defeat ISIS without getting us involved in another ground war.”

The debate unfolded amid a minor scandal between the Clinton and Sanders campaigns over an apparent data breach when at least one Sanders staffer took advantage of a computer glitch to peek at Clinton voter information.

Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.

But on stage Saturday Sanders apologized to Clinton, saying “this is not the type of campaign that we run,” and the issue quickly deflated.

Data and IT are uncomfortable topics for Clinton, who was the centre of an uproar after it was revealed she used a personal email account and server while secretary of state.

Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus lashed out at Clinton’s performance in the debate, saying she “once again proved inconsistent on the issues and out-of-touch with the American people.”

The debate occurred, perhaps not uncoincidentally, on a Saturday night at the height of the Christmas shopping rush, and on the first weekend of the release of the latest highly-anticipated Star Wars movie, likely ensuring a downsized viewership compared to previous debates.

Clinton wrapped up the event with a nod to the flick: “Thank you, good night, and may the Force be with you.”

About The Author

Pages: 1 2

Comments
Advertisement

More on Capital News