WASHINGTON — As US relations with Russia hit a low point, the presidential candidates' views towards Moscow, on display in Sunday's debate, could not have been more different.
Hewing close to the Obama administration, Hillary Clinton said Russia and the regime of Bashar al-Assad should be held accountable for possible war crimes in their bombardment of Aleppo and repeated allegations Russia was trying to hack US elections. Donald Trump said he would like to fight alongside Russia against the Islamic State, also known as ISIS.
"I don't know Putin," Trump said Sunday of Russian President Vladimir Putin. "I think it would be great if we got along with Putin so we could fight ISIS together."
In the widening rift between the US and Russia, the US intelligence community last week accused Russian officials of ordering the US election be hacked, and following the suspension of US-Russian diplomatic talks on Syria, Secretary of State John Kerry called for a war crimes investigation of the bombing campaign by Russia and the Assad regime, alleging they were attacking hospitals in a strategy to terrorize civilians. Moscow has angrily denied both accusations.
In an ugly debate that started without a handshake, Trump and Clinton sparred over national security in a town-hall style setting, taking questions from undecided voters and moderators Anderson Cooper, of CNN, and Martha Raddatz, of ABC News.
Prior to the debate in St. Louis, the news was dominated by Donald Trump's lewd comments from a hot mike in 2005. Aired for the first time Friday, it fueled a mass defection of Republican supporters in elected office and some of the tensest exchanges of the debate.
To change the conversation, Trump had four women speak at an unusual pre-debate meeting with Trump in St. Louis in an attempt to spotlight the sexual transgressions of Clinton's husband, former President Bill Clinton. The women were also seated in the debate hall.
In one striking foreign policy-driven moment, Trump parted ways with running-mate Mike Pence on the prospect of US military force against Syrian dictator Bashar Al-Assad.
When asked about Pence's comment in last week's vice-presidential debate, that the US should use such force against the regime, Trump said flatly, "He and I haven't spoken, and I disagree."
Trump seemed to suggest the US should be fighting alongside the Assad regime and its allies against the Islamic State, and added later, inaccurately, "Assad is killing ISIS. Russia is killing ISIS. And Iran is killing ISIS."
Asked what he would do about Syria and the humanitarian crisis in Aleppo, Trump said Aleppo, "basically has fallen."
Earlier in the debate, Clinton linked Russian and Syrian bombing to the iconic image of "Aleppo Boy," Omran Daqneesh, while arguing the US should accept more Syrian refugees.
"First of all, I will not let anyone into our country that I think poses a risk to us," Clinton said. "But there are a lot of refugees, women and children, think of that picture we all saw of that 4-year-old boy with the blood on his forehead because he had been bombed by the Russian and Syrian air forces. There are children suffering in this catastrophic war. Largely I believe because of Russian aggression."
Trump, dogged by questions of his ties to Russia and criticism for his praise for Putin, was pressed again by Clinton to release his taxes to show he is not beholden to Russian leaders. Trump again refused and said he had no loans from Russia.
Clinton also noted the allegations Russian hackers were attempting to influence the election, saying, "Maybe they're doing to to influence the outcome for Donald Trump."
Trump repeated his doubts Russia was responsible.
Clinton, the former secretary of state, argued she would be the better candidate to stand up to Russia, which is "all-in, in Syria." She said she would establish a no-fly-zone and a safe zone in Syria, which would in turn provide the US with leverage in negotiations with Russia toward a diplomatic solution in Syria.
"So I would go to the negotiating table with more leverage than we have now but I do support the effort to investigate for crimes, war crimes committed by the Syrians and the Russians and try to hold them accountable," Clinton said.
Trump scoffed at Clinton's tough talk on Russia, suggesting the Iran nuclear deal and the US's "weak foreign policy," exacerbated the crisis in Syria and strengthened Assad.
Trump also assailed the public nature of US plans to retake the Iraqi city of Mosul from the Islamic State, saying the US has bungled away the element of surprise.
"Gen. George Patton, Gen. Douglas MacArthur, are spinning in their grave as the stupidity of what we're doing in the Middle East," Trump said, evoking the names of two prominent US generals during World War II.
Asked later whether she would use military force beyond the no-fly-zone to back up diplomacy, Clinton reiterated she would not to use US ground troops to hold territory. She would use special forces as trainers and enablers, she said, as the Obama administration is doing.
Clinton also repeated plans to target the leader of the Islamic State and consider arming Kurdish fighters. The latter could jangle relations with Turkey, a key ally that provides a base for US airstrikes against the Islamic State.
Earlier in the debate, Clinton assailed Trump over divisive comments about Muslims and Islam as damaging relations with Mideast allies against the Islamic State and fueling the group's rhetoric.
"Right now, a lot of those nations are hearing what Donald says and wondering, 'Why should we cooperate with the Americans,' and this is a gift to ISIS and the terrorists," Clinton said. "We are not at war with Islam. And it is a mistake and it plays into the hands of the terrorists to act as though we are."
Email: jgould@defensenews.com
Twitter: @ReporterJoe
Joe Gould was the senior Pentagon reporter for Defense News, covering the intersection of national security policy, politics and the defense industry. He had previously served as Congress reporter.
