Sanders says Clinton is 'too much into regime change'

Cooper Allen | USA TODAY

National security figured to be a primary focus of Saturday's Democratic debate, the first since the San Bernardino attack, and Bernie Sanders sought to draw a distinction with Hillary Clinton on battling the Islamic State.

After Clinton outlined what her approach would be in the Middle East, Sanders said he thought she was "too much into regime change and a little bit too aggressive without knowing what the unintended consequences might be."

He went on to describe the consequences of toppling Saddam Hussein — Clinton voted for the resolution authorizing the Iraq War while in the Senate — and Moammar Gadhafi — she was secretary of State during the Libya intervention. He cited those as cautionary tales for what may happen if Bashar al-Assad is ousted in Syria.

"I think, yeah, regime change is easy, getting rid of dictators is easy. But before you do that, you gotta think about what happens the day after." He argued the focus should be on battling the Islamic State.

Clinton countered that was what she was proposing.

"That is exactly what I just said and what I just described," Clinton said, then accused Sanders of flip-flopping on the issue.

"With all due respect, Senator, you voted for regime change, with respect to Libya," she said.