Trump (right) and Rubio during the debate that brought them together with other Republican candidates in Houston, Texas on Thursday night (EPA)

Donald Trump, a Republican candidate for the US presidential elections, criticised his country’s forces for toppling Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq and their participation in the overthrow of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi in Libya during a televised debate hosted by CNN (an American news channel) in the city of Houston, Texas on Thursday evening.

He justified his statements by saying that their absence has led to the existence of a power vacuum in the two countries which has been exploited by terrorist groups. During the debate with his rivals to win the Republican nomination to run for the presidential race, Trump called for a foreign policy that intervenes less in the affairs of other countries and more isolationist with respect to foreign issues.

Whilst Trump’s replies were unconvincing and unrealistic, Senator Marco Rubio’s interventions were distinguished for being poised and based on logical analysis. He was able to relentlessly attack Trump on the issues of illegal immigration, health care and foreign policy. After the debate ended, a number of analysts said that Senator Rubio put in a good performance during his attack on Trump and was able to attract the attention of voters thanks to his performance, his knowledge of internal and external issues and balanced political proposals. They also confirmed that his performance was better than the performance of Senator Ted Cruz, the other contender. Nevertheless, there are still doubts about whether Rubio will be able to secure enough delegates on “Super Tuesday”.

Rubio accused his rival Trump of backing and supporting members of the Democratic Party such as Harry Reid and Hillary Clinton and contributing to their campaigns in the past. Rubio also mocked Trump and described him as “lacking vision and a plan to develop a health care program to replace Barack Obama’s health care program”.

All eyes will be on next Tuesday’s pivotal US primaries for the Republican Party which is an important stage after Trump’s victory in three primaries in New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina whilst Senator Ted Cruz declared victory in Iowa.