Hilary Clinton and Donald Trump discussed lies, children and sex at the second presidential debate on Sunday.
Clinton, in particular, spoke about Syrian children, African-American children and her opponent’s children.
“I have tried my entire life, to do what I can to support children and families,” Clinton said in response to an audience member’s question about whether or not the candidates can be devoted to all Americans.
Unfortunately, there was an elephant in the room that no one acknowledged.
This month marks the 15th consecutive year that the U.S. has occupied Afghanistan, making it the longest war in the nation’s history.
Since the start of the insertion, 2 million American children have been exposed to the wartime deployment of a loved one, according to the Committee on Psychosocial Aspects of Child and Family Health and Section on Uniformed Services.
“There are children suffering in this catastrophic war,” Clinton said.
However, she was not speaking about American children or the war in Afghanistan.
In fact, neither presidential candidate mentioned the 9,800 U.S. troops in Afghanistan or offered a plan to stabilize the country and bring U.S. service members home to their children and families.
Since the start of the war, at least 19,000 children have had a parent wounded in action and over 2,200 children have lost a parent in Iraq or Afghanistan, according to the Pentagon.
The unprecedented length of the war in Afghanistan and the effect it has on the population of America’s future were overlooked by the priority of topics discussed by the presidential candidates.
Viewers were provided with an opportunity to watch Clinton and Trump jog each other’s memories.
Trump reminded Clinton that her husband had an affair and Clinton notified Trump that U.S. presidents have veto power.
Audience member Carl Becker closed the debate by nudging the two presidential candidates to act maturely by asking them to state something they admire about each other.
Clinton and Trump will participate in the third and last presidential debate on Oct. 19, in Las Vegas, Nevada.
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