MINNEAPOLIS — Offering a prebuttal to Republicans, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said Tuesday that the American people ''cannot give into fear'' in the aftermath of attacks in Paris and California, laying out a multi-pronged strategy to protect the homeland and prevent domestic terrorist attacks.
Clinton assailed her Republican rivals shortly before the party's latest presidential debate, telling an audience at the University of Minnesota that another ground war reminiscent of conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan would play into the hands of the Islamic State and fail to keep the US safe.
''Shallow slogans don't add up to a strategy,'' Clinton said.
''Promising to carpet bomb until the desert glows doesn't make you sound strong, it makes you sound like you are in over your head,'' she added. ''Bluster and bigotry are not credentials for becoming commander in chief.''
Clinton sought to assure Americans that she would protect the United States and prevent homegrown terrorists from sprouting following deadly attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, Calif., incidents that have thrust terrorism to the forefront of the presidential campaign. Much of her critique was aimed at Republican front-runner Donald Trump, whose call for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the United States has sparked debate around the globe.
Her strategy includes proactive steps for capping Islamic State recruitment in the United States, especially online, and for stopping potential jihadists from training overseas. She also urged that the United States take steps to stop foreign fighters from entering the country, discover and disrupt plots before they can be carried out, work more closely with law enforcement agencies, and empower Muslim-American communities.
''This is a 360-degree strategy to keep America safe,'' Clinton said. She also reiterated her support for new restrictions on guns, saying it was ''time to restore the ban on assault weapons,'' a law first passed by her husband, former president Bill Clinton, which expired during George W. Bush's administration.
She also emphasized a need for vigilance, stressing that the country needs to be prepared for more terror plots. Hours before her speech, officials in Los Angeles closed all schools after an e-mailed threat a large-scale attack with guns and bombs — a threat some law enforcement officials deemed a hoax.
As President Obama's former secretary of state, Clinton holds direct ties to the White House's national security policies and has largely endorsed the president's approach to dismantling the Islamic State group. Like Obama, Clinton has said she would not send American ground troops to the Middle East, saying it would provide a recruiting tool for IS.
But Republicans view Obama's handling of foreign policy and terrorism as a weakness and have tried to link Clinton to the president's record, arguing that his policies in the Middle East allowed terrorist groups to flourish since the drawdown of troops in Iraq.
CONCORD, N.H. — Helping to launch a bipartisan coalition in New Hampshire, former representative Gabrielle Giffords on Tuesday urged Democrats and Republicans alike to be bold and courageous in preventing gun violence.
Giffords, a Democrat from Arizona, was badly wounded in a 2011 shooting that left six people dead and 13 injured in Tucson. She spoke in Concord a day after the third anniversary of the mass shooting of 20 first-grade children and six educators at Connecticut's Sandy Hook Elementary School and less than two weeks after a couple killed 14 people in San Bernardino, California.
''Stopping gun violence takes courage — the courage to do what's right, the courage of new ideas,'' she said. ''I've seen great courage when my life was on the line. Now is the time to come together, to be responsible.''
While the Granite State Coalition for Common Sense will be followed by similar groups in other states, Giffords' husband, Mark Kelly, said they made New Hampshire first in part because of its prominent role in the presidential nominating process. The state will hold the earliest presidential primary in 2016 and has been flooded with presidential candidates for months.
''It's important for setting the tone and setting an agenda for more or less what's going to be discussed,'' he said. ''We're very hopeful that gun violence and how we can solve it becomes a platform of both parties. We're also hopeful that in time, every presidential candidate lays out their position on this issue.''
Kelly, a former astronaut, and Giffords started Americans for Responsible Solutions in 2012 and have traveled the country pushing for legislation to address gun violence. He said he expects Republican candidates participating in Tuesday night's debate in Las Vegas to say they oppose gun control without taking a stand on specific proposals, such as closing loopholes that allow felons, domestic abusers and the dangerously mentally ill to buy guns without undergoing criminal background checks.