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 Top rival Bernie Sanders accused Clinton of being too quick to
push for regime change, while Republican candidate Carly Fiorina,
said the former secretary of state was too willing to cede U.S.
policy to other countries.
The debate was the Democrats' first since the deadly Dec. 2 attack
by a pair of radicalized Muslims in San Bernardino, California,
which along with the November attacks in Paris elevated national
security to the top of the campaign agenda.
Obama has relied heavily on U.S. air strikes against Islamic State
targets in Syria and Iraq, and has deployed dozens of special
operations troops to northern Syria to advise opposition forces. In
Iraq, about 3,500 U.S. troops are assisting Iraqi forces.
Like Obama, Clinton backs the use of special forces but says 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, noting a U.N. Security
Council resolution had brought "the world together to go after a
political transition in Syria."
 That drew a quick response from Republican candidates, who seized
the opportunity to tie Clinton to a Syria strategy that has yielded
few tangible gains to date.
Fiorina, a former technology executive, said Clinton is too willing
to rely on U.N resolutions rather than acting unilaterally. "It's
what 'leading from behind' is, I guess," she said on "Fox News
Sunday."
"No, Hillary Clinton, we are not 'where we need to be' in fight
against ISIS," former Florida Governor Jeb Bush wrote on Twitter
during the debate. Hours later, his campaign released a video
contrasting her comments with TV footage of the San Bernardino and
Paris attacks.
Attacking from the other side, Sanders said the United States should
focus on defeating Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, rather
than also trying to remove Syrian President Bashar al-Assad from
power.
"We could get rid of Assad tomorrow, but that would create another
political vacuum that would benefit ISIS," the Vermont senator said.
Since the start of the conflict in 2011, the Obama administration
has applied diplomatic pressure to push Assad out of office but has
stopped short of military attacks against his regime.
Clinton backs that approach, but has struck a more hawkish tone in
other areas. She has called for more airstrikes and a greater use of
special-operations ground forces and supports setting up a no-fly
zone. Obama says enforcing a no-fly zone would require aircraft and
other assets that could be better deployed directly against Islamic
State.
DYNAMIC OF RACE UNCHANGED
Clinton also vowed not to raise taxes on middle-class Americans if
elected next November, questioning the affordability of some of
Sanders' proposals such as creation of a single-payer healthcare
system and tuition-free college.
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With just six weeks left until Iowa kicks off the Democratic
nominating contest on Feb. 1, the debate appeared to do little to
change the trajectory of the 2016 Democratic presidential race for
the White House.
Clinton holds a big lead in national polls over Sanders and former
Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley, who are both still searching for
breakthrough moments that could shift the dynamic.
In a two-hour debate that largely focused on foreign policy, Clinton
also defended her advocacy in 2011 for ousting Libyan strongman
Muammar Gaddafi, a position which Republican presidential candidates
have criticized.
"I am not giving up on Libya and no one should," Clinton said.
She also accused Sanders of hypocrisy for supporting regime change
in Libya when he had voted in the Senate for a non-binding
resolution that called on Gaddafi to resign and support a peaceful
transition to democracy.
Clinton also 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 Islamic State.
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 zeroed in on Republican presidential front-runner Donald
Trump, saying his vow to ban Muslims from entering the United States
is helping Islamic State militants recruit new members.
That drew a sharp response from Trump. "It's nonsense - it's just
another Hillary lie," he said on NBC's "Meet the Press."
Clinton's endorsement of Obama's Syria strategy could haunt her if
the conflict takes a turn for the worse, said Democratic strategist
Bud Jackson.
"Everything is so unpredictable in Syria," he said. "Even the
smallest things can be capitalized on as an 'I told you so.'"
(Additional reporting by Ginger Gibson, Andy Sullivan, Toni Clarke
Alana Wise and Megan Casella in Washington,; Writing by John
Whitesides and Steve Holland; Editing by Steve Orlofsky, Paul Simao
and Alan Crosby)
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