Democrats Slam Hillary Clinton For Iraq War Vote During CBS Debate

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the Islamic State group must be defeated, but that it cannot be a solely American fight. Clinton urged leaders in the Middle East to react to this global threat, as she thinks the bulk of responsibility should not lie with American leaders. Her remarks came as the three remaining Democratic candidates in the race to 2016— Clinton, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley—appeared Saturday night at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa for a presidential debate. The candidates conversed over the economy and wage inequality, and also weighed in on the terrorist attacks that unfolded Friday night in Paris.

Sanders disagreed with Clinton, and blamed the 2003 invasion in Iraq for unraveling the region--an invasion that Clinton had supported in 2003 when she was in the Senate. He drew a connection between Clinton's vote and the growing ISIS network. In response, Clinton listed pre-Iraq terrorist attacks and said that she has acknowledged that the invasion of Iraq was a mistake.

O'Malley said the United States must take a serious role in the fight against ISIS, calling the terror network "evil." He called for greater human intelligence on the ground.

The grisly attacks on Friday night in Paris claimed the lives of at least 129 people and injured another 352. Along with France, the known victims so far have come from Sweden, Belgium, the United States, Britain and Italy. ISIS has claimed responsibility for the attacks this morning, and confimed that eight assailants had carried them out.

In the wake of the horrific attacks, an aide to Sanders had allegedly “thrown a fit,”when CBS informed him that the debate would kick off with a focus on the Paris attacks, CNN reported. The aide, Mark Longabaugh, reportedly argued that this "wasn't part of the deal," and that it "shouldn't be allowed. It wasn't advertised as a foreign policy debate and it's turning into a debate it wasn't supposed to be," according to the source.

Jeff Weaver, the Vermont senator's campaign manager, told CNN that he didn’t think the terrorist attacks would change the tone of the debate. "I don't think it tempers the tone of the debate," Weaver said, according to CNN. "We are going to have a debate on a wide range of issues. There will certainly be a lot of discussion…about foreign policy, ISIS and how we defeat terrorism."