Democratic White House hopefuls have united in searing condemnation of US President Donald Trump's decision to pull out of northern Syria, slamming the decision as "madness" and a "betrayal".
Twelve candidates met for the fourth Democratic debate in Ohio on Tuesday to spar over a range of domestic and foreign policy issues.
Democratic presidential candidates Joe Biden and Elizabeth Warren. Source: AAP
When asked about the situation in northern Syria, they did not hold back.
"It has been the most shameful thing that any president has done in modern history, in terms of foreign policy," former vice president Joe Biden said.
"[The Kurds] lost their lives [fighting IS]. This is shameful, shameful what this man has done."
Kamala Harris and Bernie Sanders mid-debate. Source: AAP
Turkish forces have used the US departure from northern Syria to launch a military strike across the Turkey-Syria border against long-time Kurdish rivals.
The US fought side-by-side with the Kurds in Syria over several years and together brought IS to the brink of defeat. But now the region has returned to chaos.
Senator Elizabeth Warren, who is neck-and-neck in the polls with Mr Biden, said Mr Trump had "created a bigger-than-ever humanitarian crisis".
"He has helped ISIS get another foothold, a new lease on life," she said, using another acronym for the group.
Pete Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Indiana and the first major openly gay presidential hopeful, said it was a "betrayal by this president of American allies and American values".
"It is the beginning of a genocide and the resurgence of ISIS," he said.
It is the beginning of a genocide Pete Buttigieg
And Senator Kamala Harris said, "this is a crisis of Donald Trump's making".
"And it is on a long list of crises of Donald Trump's making ... And when I am commander-in-chief, we will stop this madness".
Impeachment of Trump
From the opening moments, most of the dozen candidates on stage launched fierce broadsides against Mr Trump over the Ukrainian scandal at the heart of the impeachment inquiry.
"The impeachment must go forward," Ms Warren said.
"Impeachment is the way that we establish that this man will not be permitted to break the law over and over without consequences."
But Ms Warren, and others, warned the goal was not just to sanction Mr Trump, but to restore the dignity of the office.
Washington's impeachment brawl has dominated US politics for weeks, centered on Mr Trump's effort to press Ukraine to dig up dirt on his 2020 rival Biden - and for a 10 solid minutes Mr Trump was the focus of attacks.
Mr Biden made clear he believes Mr Trump should be impeached - saying politicians "have no choice but to move" - but he also pushed back hard on Mr Trump's charge that he had intervened in Ukraine to protect his son Hunter.
US President Donald Trump Source: Getty
"My son did nothing wrong. I did nothing wrong," Mr Biden said, when asked about his son's employment with a Ukrainian company, which even some Democrats say held the appearance of a conflict of interest.
"I carried out the policy of the United States in rooting out corruption in Ukraine. That's what we should be focusing on."
'Pipe dream'
Candidates also clashed robustly on kitchen table issues such as health care.
Ms Warren faced stiff blowback from moderates Mr Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar who criticised her for declining to come clean on how much her "Medicare for All" health plan would cost.
"The difference between a plan and a pipe dream is something that you can actually get done," Ms Klobuchar said.
While Mr Buttigieg said "your signature is to have a plan for everything, except this".
"No plan has been laid out to explain how a multi-trillion-dollar hole in this plan that Ms Warren is putting forward is supposed to get filled in."
Additional reporting: AFP
