In fight for the White House

The last Democratic presidential debate pitted former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, Senator Bernie Sanders and former governor of Maryland, Martin O’Mally, the three contenders to the White House, against one another in an attempt to demonstrate to the American voters who wound serve their country best, both at national and international levels.

Where the three candidates differed most was over Syria, with Clinton insisting that there is no way the world can win the war against Daesh without also taking on Syrian President Bashar Assad who she described as having created the environment that encouraged the rise of the terrorist group in the first place.

How can one defeat Daesh without defeating the raison d’être of the terrorist group, asked Clinton.

Sanders and O’Mally argued, however, that now is the time to focus on Daesh and not on the removal of the Syrian leader; Sanders suggested that the timing for that objective could come later on, during the second stage of the conflict resolution in Syria.

O’Mally also argued that it is not the US’ business to change regimes, as the US is not an international policeman for the world community.

He also expressed fear that Assad’s removal would create a vacuum and render Syria a failed state that would end up with the same fate as Libya, a lawless country.

Assad’s fate and Daesh’s defeat could be viewed as two sides of the same coin; in the eyes of the Obama administration, as well as of Clinton, they are not two separate issues and objectives.

This is what divides Moscow from Washington till this very minute, and is not only impeding the war against the terrorist faction but also the resolution of the Syrian conflict.

Not less important in the debate was Clinton’s accusing the front-runner Republican candidate, Donald Trump, of fanning hatred against Muslims by calling for a ban on their entry into the US, at least for a temporary period, until their background is thoroughly checked.

It “is not in America’s interest to react with this kind of fear and bigotry”, said Clinton.

Further debates got more acrimonious and Trump spewed venom at all other candidates, on both sides of the fence.

It is now unimaginable that Trump can survive his overly negative and provocative tactics.

Interestingly, the Palestinian conflict did not figure at all in the debate, despite the fact that it is the epicentre of all the regional crises and a third Palestinian Intifada is raging in the West Bank and farther.

What the Palestinian people need to do to attract the attention of US candidates to the White House are some policy decisions on the part of their leadership.