Tulsi Gabbard and Pete Buttigieg – the two military veterans among Democratic candidates for the 2020 nomination – clashed at the latest debate over Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw American troops from northern Syria.

Hawaii congresswoman Gabbard, who has long been a vocal critic of the US presence in Syria, said that the slaughtering of Kurds was a consequence of what she called the 'regime-change war' in Syria.

She suggested that not only does Trump have the blood of the Kurds on his hands, but so too do many politicians from both parties who have supported US military involvement in the region.

Ms Gabbard, who served in Iraq, said that were she to become president, she would end draconian sanctions on Syria that she said were killing civilians, and that she would “stop supporting terrorists like al-Qaeda who have been the ground force for the regime-change war in Syria”.