Democratic debate: Bernie Sanders says he'll withdraw troops from foreign countries but not at 3 am like Trump
The fifth Democratic debate held in Atlanta on November 20 witnessed some interesting moments when the audience was left in splits by the participants’ jocular words, especially aimed at their common enemy, President Donald Trump.
Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, for example, created some such moments. When asked by a moderator about his stand on bringing back US troops from Afghanistan, the world’s most terror-hit nation, the 78-year-old presidential hopeful said he would do it, but unlike Trump, he will not retreat the troops at 3 am in the morning! It was a clear dig at the president’s bizarre habit of shooting out tweets at wee hours. Sanders said he will only take action by taking the international fraternity into confidence. “We need to rethink the war on terror,” he said.
Last month, Trump removed US troops from northern Syria hastily, leaving local allies Kurds at the mercy of the Turkish military. The move came under massive criticism, even from the Republican Party.
'I never supported war, unlike Joe Biden'
Sanders also said, addressing rival Joe Biden, that while the former vice president backed the war in Iraq, he himself was never in favor of wars, even when Iraq was attacked during the First Gulf War in the early 1990s.
Sanders also said the US needed to take care of its allies and not just appease brutal dictatorships. He said even if the US is supporting Israel, it needed to respect the sentiments of the Palestinians.
The Democratic participants though differed on a number of issues but they all had a common take on Trump.
The 10 participants of the latest debate were former vice president Joe Biden, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, California Senator Kamala Harris, New Jersey Senator Cory Booker, billionaire Tom Steyer, Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar, Hawaii Representative Tulsi Gabbard and entrepreneur Andrew Yang.