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 Clinton's rivals for the White House, Bernie Sanders and Martin
O'Malley, took a more aggressive tone than in their first debate
last month. They accused Clinton of being too cozy with Wall Street
and taking campaign donations that made her unwilling to stand up to
corporate interests.
The day after a series of bomb and gun attacks that killed at least
129 people in Paris, Sanders linked Clinton's U.S. Senate vote
authorizing the Iraq invasion to the regional chaos that followed.
Sanders called it "one of the worst foreign policy blunders in the
modern history of the United States.”
"I would argue that the disastrous invasion of Iraq, something that
I strongly opposed, unraveled the region immensely, and led to the
rise of Al Qaeda and to ISIS," said Sanders, a U.S. senator from
Vermont.
"I don't think any sensible person would disagree that the invasion
of Iraq led to the massive level of instability we are seeing right
now," he said.
Clinton, who has frequently called the Iraq vote a mistake, said it
should be placed in the historical context of years of terrorism
before the invasion.
 "This is an incredibly complicated region of the world. It's become
more complicated. And many of the fights that are going on are not
ones that the United States has either started or have a role in,"
she said.
Clinton said countries in the region would have to play a major role
in resolving the conflict. "It cannot be an American fight. And I
think what the president has consistently said, which I agree with,
is that we will support those who take the fight to ISIS," she said.
Clinton struck a sharp contrast to Obama's comments in an interview
aired on Friday that ISIS had been contained, saying it "cannot be
contained, it must be defeated."
'FILLING THE VACUUM'
She also played up her efforts to find solutions in the region,
noting she had pushed for an effort to train and equip Syrian
moderates "because I thought there would be extremist groups filling
the vacuum."
The former secretary of state drew another contrast with Obama on
Syrian refugees, saying she urged the administration to increase its
plan to accept 10,000 refugees in fiscal 2016.
"I said we should go to 65 (thousand), but only if we have as
carefully screening and vetting process as we can imagine, whatever
resources it takes," she said.
Republican presidential contenders have criticized Obama for what
they say was an inadequate response to the rise of Islamic State in
Iraq and Syria, and called on the administration to reconsider plans
to allow thousands of Syrian refugees to be resettled in the United
States.
The second debate for Democrats seeking their party's nomination for
the November 2016 presidential election focused heavily on foreign
policy and ways to combat terrorism after the Paris attacks.
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The candidates and audience at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa,
observed a moment of silence at the beginning of the debate to honor
those killed in France.
Clinton has always been from the more hawkish wing of the Democratic
Party. Her support for the 2003 Iraq invasion played a major role in
her primary loss to Obama in the 2008 White House race.
The foreign policy focus was a dramatic shift in emphasis in a
Democratic presidential race that so far has been dominated by
domestic economic issues such as income inequality, college
affordability and family leave.
The Democrats returned to that theme later in the debate. Sanders
criticized Clinton for taking Wall Street donations and noted her
opposition to reinstating the Glass-Steagall Act, the 1933 law that
established a firewall between investment and commercial banking.
Its removal has been blamed by some for helping lead to the 2008
financial crisis.
"Over her political career, Wall Street has been a major, the major
donor to Hillary Clinton. Now maybe they’re dumb, but I don’t think
so," said Sanders, who favors reinstatement of the act.
Clinton accused Sanders of impugning her integrity and said
reinstating the law was not enough to rein in corporate influence
and reform Wall Street.
"Reinstating Glass-Steagall is a part of what very well could help,
but it is nowhere near enough," she said. "I just don’t think it
would get the job done, I’m all about making sure it actually gets
results for whatever we do.”
With the political clock ticking to the first nominating contest in
Iowa on Feb. 1, Clinton has opened a commanding lead over Sanders,
her prime challenger, in national and Iowa polls. O'Malley, former
governor of Maryland, trails well behind, in single digits in most
polls.
(Additional reporting by Megan Cassella and Luciana Lopez; Editing
by Ken Wills)
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