After Paris attacks, 2016 candidates debate the use of U.S. military power

Appearing in a Democratic presidential debate on Saturday night, former secretary of state Hillary Clinton said it was not America’s fight alone and that the battle against IS was a shared responsibility.

French President Francois Hollande said Saturday that ISIS was responsible for the wave of deadly attacks that killed more than 120 people.

“As a country that knows very well the manner and consequences of terrorism, we understand perfectly the suffering that France is experiencing now”, he said.

Santorum says on Saturday that the Islamic State group is a creation of the foreign policy decisions of Clinton and Obama.

The meeting also included a discussion of “our Embassy security posture in Paris and across Europe”, the statement said, and Obama directed his team “to take all appropriate measures to ensure the security of Embassy personnel”. Ted Cruz said the attack represented an “escalation” in the fight between western civilization and jihadists.

Obama, in an interview with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos that was taped Thursday and aired Friday, said he didn’t think ISIS was gaining strength.

Day Two of the Republican Party of Florida’s Sunshine Summit carried a much different tone than the race did Friday when the party’s front-running presidential candidates took the stage.

The President had used that description for ISIS the day earlier before the Paris attacks occurred. “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”, said Sanders, “I think it was one of the worst foreign policy blunders in the history of the United States”.

The United States began a bombing campaign against the group a year ago and has increased the intensity of that campaign this fall, just as Russian Federation began its own parallel bombing operation.

Jeb Bush, the son and brother of presidents who waged wars against Iraq, said: “This is the war of our time and we have to be serious in engaging and creating a strategy to confront and take it out”.

Santorum had harsh words for Obama and Clinton, too. After the moderator asked the candidates to recall a time when they had been tested by crisis to demonstrate they were fit to face tough situations as president, Clinton described considering whether to recommend that the USA launch the raid to kill Osama bin Laden, which she eventually did.

Rubio said the United States “must increase our efforts at home and overseas to improve our defenses, destroy terrorist networks, and deprive them of the space from which to operate”.