How U.S. presidential candidates plan to stop terror after Brussels attacks

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. – The recent horrific bombings in Brussels that left at least 31 dead and 270 injured have shaken the 2016 presidential race. Candidates are speaking up about their stances in the fight against terror.

Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton drew from her four years as the country’s top diplomat and urged for stronger ties among allies, while pushing them to do  more to win the war against terror.

Clinton said, “It’s understandable that Americans here, at home, are worried. The threat we face from terrorism is real, it’s urgent, and it knows no boundaries.”

Clinton said the world would be more dangerous if Republicans win the White House. She slammed GOP presidential candidates Donald Trump and Ted Cruz for how they plan to fight terror. Trump said he would reconsider U.S. involvement in and expenditures to NATO, which is headquartered in Brussels.

He said he would potentially use nuclear weapons to stop ISIS and reemploy torture. Trump said, “I think we have to change our law on you know the waterboarding thing, where they can chop off heads and they can drown people in cages and heavy steel cages and we can’t water board. We have to change our laws, and we have to be able to fight at least on an almost equal basis.”

Clinton argued, “Putin already hopes to divide Europe. If Mr. Trump gets his way, it will be like Christmas in the Kremlin. It will make America less safe and the world more dangerous.”

Clinton also called Cruz’ call for police to patrol Muslim neighborhoods in America “wrong, counterproductive and dangerous”, saying it’s racial profiling and treating American Muslims like criminals.

But Cruz said America needs to empower law enforcement to make sure Muslim communities do not become radicalized.

Cruz stated, “We need to be using proactive policing, law enforcement and intelligence and national security resources to prevent radical terrorists to monitor, intercept, and stop radical Islamic terrorists before they carry out acts of terror.”

Meantime, Clinton’s rival, Bernie Sanders, has also spoken up on the issue, saying the U.S. needs to protect its allies throughout the world and do a much greater job in sharing intelligence with its allies.

These presidential candidates may differ in strategies to defeat terror but it’s clear that the U.S. government needs to step up in its efforts.

A recent poll by Rasmussen Reports shows that more Americans, 40 percent think terrorists are winning, compared to 30 percent who think the U.S. and its allies are defeating the war on terror.