Second 2016 Presidential Debate: on Foreign Policy

Jill Stein: Syria invited Russia into war; don't threaten no-fly zone

STEIN: If you watched the debate the other night, you would have heard Trump saying that he's looking for collaboration with Putin. But I consider the threat of nuclear war not trivial at all, and this is one of the most clear and present dangers to our surroundings.

Q: Why is it more likely under Clinton, though? This is about Trump's hair-trigger temper generally, not just with Putin.

STEIN: Put it this way: The most likely nuclear threat right now is with Russia. And when you have Hillary Clinton then beating the war drums against Russia, and essentially saying that if she's elected that we will declare war on Russia--because that's what a no-fly zone over Syria amounts to. Shooting down Russian warplanes.

Q: Not if the Russians adhere.

STEIN: But our no-fly zone does not adhere to international law. Syria--for better or for worse--invited Russia there.

Bill Weld: Priority is not "no fly zone" but to stop killing in Aleppo

Bill Weld: Clinton's "no fly zone" for Syria risks war. Our policy would have been more restrained than hers. Half of the population of rebel-held Aleppo have said they will leave if there is a path. I am afraid that Assad is going to take the territory. My priority now would be to prevent further slaughter of innocents in Aleppo.

Gary Johnson: A "No-Fly zone" means war; no regime change in Syria

Gary Johnson: Hillary Clinton thinks we're safer with regime change despite Libya, Iraq, Syria. The civil war in Syria is heart-breaking. Without strong diplomacy, Hillary's safe zone [would be] ineffective and would require U.S. boots on the ground.

Hillary Clinton: Cooperate with Russia when possible & stand up when needed

A: Russia hasn't paid any attention to ISIS. They're interested in keeping Assad in power. When I was secretary of state, I advocated--and I advocate today--a no-fly zone and safe zones. We need some leverage with the Russians, because they are not going to come to the negotiating table for a diplomatic resolution unless there is some leverage over them. I want to emphasize that what is at stake here is the ambitions and the aggressiveness of Russia. Russia has decided that it's all in, in Syria. They've also decided who they want to see become president of the US, too, and it's not me. I've stood up to Russia. I've taken on Putin and others, and I would do that as president. Wherever we can cooperate with Russia, that's fine. And I did as secretary of state. That's how we got a treaty reducing nuclear weapons. It's how we got the sanctions on Iran that put a lid on the Iranian nuclear program without firing a single shot.

Hillary Clinton: Should admit carefully vetted war refugees on moral grounds

A: First of all, I will not let anyone into our country that I think poses a risk to us. But there are a lot of refugees, women & children--think of that picture we all saw of that 4-year-old boy with the blood on his forehead because he'd been bombed by the Russian and Syrian air forces. We need to do our part. We by no means are carrying anywhere near the load that Europe and others are. But we will have vetting that is as tough as it needs to be from our intelligence experts and others. It is important for us not to say, as Trump has said, "we're going to ban people based on a religion." We are a country founded on religious freedom and liberty. How do we do what he has advocated without causing great distress within our own country? What he said was extremely unwise and even dangerous. You can look at the propaganda on a lot of the terrorists sites, and what Trump says about Muslims is used to recruit fighters.

Jill Stein: US helped create refugee crisis, so we should help them

Hillary Clinton: I will not let anyone into our country that I think poses a risk to us. But there are a lot of refugees who are women and children.

Jill Stein: There is a refugee crisis created in large part by US military interventions. We need to do our part by taking in refugees.