Clinton, Sanders clash on ISIL, foreign policy and the economy

U.S. Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton backed elements of President Obama's strategy to fight the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in a debate on Saturday in which she clashed with top rival Bernie Sanders over national security and the economy.

Clinton came under fire from Republicans even before the debate was over for saying "we now finally are where we need to be" in Syria, and was criticized by Sanders for being too quick to push for regime change.

The ABC News debate in Manchester, New Hampshire, was the Democrats' first since the deadly Dec. 2 attack by a couple in San Bernardino, California, which along with the November attacks in Paris elevated national security to the top of the campaign agenda.

Republicans have criticized Obama's handling of ISIL and have sought to link the former secretary of state to what they say is a failed strategy.

Obama has relied heavily on U.S. air strikes against ISIL targets in Syria and Iraq, and ordered the deployment of dozens of special operations troops to northern Syria to advise opposition forces in their fight against ISIL. In Iraq, about 3,500 U.S. troops are advising and assisting Iraqi forces.

Clinton agrees with Obama on the need to use special forces and trainers but, like the president, she has said a large deployment of U.S. ground forces in the Middle East would be counterproductive.

"We now finally are where we need to be. We have a strategy and a commitment to go after ISIS," she said, using an alternate name for ISIL and noting a U.N. Security Council resolution had brought "the world together to go after a political transition in Syria."

Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush quickly responded to Clinton on Twitter. "No, Hillary Clinton, we are not 'where we need to be' in fight against ISIS."

Sanders also attacked Clinton for what he described as her support for regime change in Syria, saying the United States should prioritize the fight ISIL over working to remove Syrian President Bashar al-Assad from power.

"Secretary Clinton is too much into regime change and a little bit too aggressive without knowing what the unintended consequences might be," said Sanders, a U.S. senator from Vermont. "Yes, we could get rid of Assad tomorrow, but that would create another political vacuum that would benefit ISIS."

Clinton countered that Washington could pursue both goals in tandem.

“We will not get the support on the ground in Syria to dislodge ISIS if the fighters there – who are not associated with ISIS, but whose principal goal is getting rid of Assad – don’t believe there is a political diplomatic channel that is ongoing. We now have that,” she said.

Clinton defended her support for a no-fly zone in Syria, which she said would create safe areas to protect people on the ground from Assad's forces and ISIL.

But when pressed by the debate moderators, she would not say if that meant she would be willing to shoot down Russian planes, saying "I do not think it would come to that. We are already de-conflicting air space."

Clinton also defended her advocacy in 2011 for ousting Libyan strongman Muammar Gaddafi.

"I am not giving up on Libya and no one should," Clinton said.

And, she went on the offensive against Sanders, accusing him of hypocrisy for supporting regime change in Libya when he had voted in the Senate for a nonbinding resolution that called on Gaddafi to resign and support a peaceful transition to democracy.

Guns and the economy

The Democratic contenders also clashed over gun control, with former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley criticizing both Sanders and Clinton for shifting their stances to be more aggressive in seeking new restrictions in the wake of a recent string of mass shootings.

"ISIL videos, ISIL training videos are telling lone wolves the easiest way to buy a combat assault weapon in America is at a gun show," said O'Malley, who accused his rivals of "flip-flopping" on the issue.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, Martin," Sanders said.

"Let's tell the truth, Martin," Clinton chimed in.

Saturday's debate was the first for Democrats since the shooting in San Bernardino, California, where 14 people were killed by a married couple. The incident, as well as earlier attacks in Paris, pushed national security to the forefront of the 2016 White House race.

Sanders sought in the debate to refocus on his core message of leveling the economic playing field for middle-class Americans, including his call for free college tuition and a single-payer health care system. Clinton challenged Sanders on how he would pay for those proposals, suggesting he'd pass on the costs to states and middle class Americans.

She pledged that as president, she wouldn't raise taxes on families making $250,000 or less per year.

Debate held after dispute over data breach 

Clinton and Sanders entered the debate in the midst of one of their fiercest fights — about the campaign itself rather than a national or international issue. Clinton's campaign accused Sanders' team of stealing information used to target voters and anticipate what issues might motivate them. The data breach occurred when a software vendor employed by the Democratic National Committee mistakenly allowed a firewall between the two campaigns’ voter data to fall temporarily.

The DNC in response cut off Sanders' team's access to its own data, a move the Vermont senator said Saturday was an "egregious act."

Still, Sanders said his staff had acted improperly. "This is not the type of campaign that we run," he said. Sanders' campaign fired a worker involved in the breach but also accused the national party of placing "its thumb on the scales in support of Hillary Clinton's campaign." His campaign said after the debate it had suspended two more aides.

All three candidates stressed working more closely with Muslim-American communities to tackle radicalism at home — a sharp difference from the rhetoric of some Republican candidates.

Al Jazeera and wire services