Presidential Debate: Here's What You Missed If You Skipped It

Oct. 23, 2012 -- intro: Here's what you missed if you sat out the third presidential debate. Check out some of the best moments and sound bites from Monday night.

(Click HERE for the full debate transcript and ABC News' debate analysis)

quicklist:1title: Mitt Romneycategory: Al Qaedatext:"We can't kill our way out of this."

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quicklist:2title: Barack Obamacategory: Al Qaedatext:"Gov. Romney, I'm glad that you agreed that we have been successful in going after al Qaeda, but I have to tell you that your strategy previously has been one that has been all over the map and is not designed to keep Americans safe or to build on the opportunities that exist in the Middle East."

quicklist:3title: Mitt Romneycategory: Middle Easttext:"I can say this: that we are talking about the Middle East, and how to help the Middle East reject the kind of terrorism we're seeing and the rising tide of tumult and confusion, and attacking me is not an agenda. Attacking me is not talking about how we're going to deal with the challenges that exist in the Middle East."

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quicklist:4title: Barack Obamacategory: Syriatext:"What we can't do is to simply suggest that, as Gov. Romney at times has suggested, that giving heavy weapons, for example, to the Syrian opposition is a simple proposition that would lead us to be safer over the long term."

quicklist:5title: Mitt Romneycategory: Russiatext:"I have clear eyes on this. I'm not going to wear rose-colored glasses when it comes to Russia or Mr. Putin, and I'm certainly not going to say to him 'I'll give you more flexibility after the election. After the election, he'll get more backbone."

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quicklist:6title: Barack Obamacategory: Russiatext:"Gov. Romney, I'm glad that you recognize that al Qaeda is a threat because a few months ago when you asked what's the biggest geopolitical threat facing America, you said Russia – not al Qaeda – you said Russia. The 1980s are now calling and asking for their foreign policy back."

quicklist:7title: Mitt Romneycategory:Israeltext:"Mr. President, the reason I call it an apology tour is because you went to the Middle East, and you flew to Egypt and to Saudi Arabia and to Turkey and Iraq. And by the way, you skipped Israel, our closest friend in the region. And by the way, they noticed that you skipped Israel."

quicklist:8title:Barack Obamacategory: Israeltext: "First of all, Israel is a true friend. It is our greatest ally in the region. And if Israel is attacked, America will stand with Israel. I've made that clear throughout my presidency. And ... I will stand with Israel if they are attacked. And this is the reason why, working with Israel, we have created the strongest military and intelligence cooperation between our two countries in history.

"In fact, this week we'll be carrying out the largest military exercise with Israel in history, this very week. But to the issue of Iran, as long as I'm president of the United States, Iran will not get a nuclear weapon. I made that clear when I came into office."

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quicklist:9title: Mitt Romneycategory:Irantext:"When the president of Iran, Ahmadinejad, says that our debt makes us not a great country, that's a frightening thing.

"I think from the very beginning, one of the challenges we've had with Iran is that they've looked at this administration and felt that this administration was not as strong as it needed to be. I think they saw weakness where they had expected to find American strength."

quicklist:10title:Barack Obamacategory: Irantext:"Now that represents the opportunity we have to take advantage of. And, you know, Gov. Romney, I'm glad that you agree that we have been successful in going after al Qaeda, but I have to tell you that, you know, your strategy previously has been one that has been all over the map and is not designed to keep Americans safe or to build on the opportunities that exist in the Middle East."

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quicklist:11title: Mitt Romneycategory: Domestic - the Auto Industrytext: "I'm a son of Detroit. I was born in Detroit. My dad was head of a car company. I like American cars. And I would do nothing to hurt the U.S. auto industry. My plan to get the industry on its feet when it was in real trouble was not to start writing checks. It was President Bush that wrote the first checks. I disagree with that. I said they need — these companies need to go through a managed bankruptcy. And in that process, they can get government help and government guarantees, but they need to go through bankruptcy to get rid of excess cost and the debt burden that they'd built up."

quicklist:12title:Barack Obamacategory: The Navy and Bayonetstext:"You mentioned the Navy, for example, and that we have fewer ships than we did in 1916. Well, governor, we also have fewer horses and bayonets, because the nature of our military's changed. We have these things called aircraft carriers, where planes land on them. We have ships going underwater, nuclear submarines. And so the question is not a game of battleship where we're counting ships but what our capabilities are."

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quicklist: 13title: Mitt Romneycategory: America's Roletext: "Our purpose is to make sure the world is peaceful. We want a peaceful planet, we want people to enjoy their lives and know they're going to have a bright and prosperous future and not be at war. That's our purpose. And the mantle of leadership for the promoting the principles of peace has fallen to America. We didn't ask for it, but it's an honor we have it.

"But for us to be able to promote those principles of peace requires us to be strong. And that begins with a strong economy at home and unfortunately the economy is not stronger."

title: Barack Obamacategory: America's Roletext:"The world needs a stronger America and it is stronger than when I came into office. Because we ended the war in Iraq, we were able to refocus our attention on not only the terrorism threat but also beginning a transition process in Afghanistan. It also allowed us to refocus on alliances and relationships that have been neglected for a decade.

"And Gov. Romney, our alliances have never been stronger, in Asia, in Europe, in Africa, with Israel, where we have an unprecedented military and intelligence cooperation, including dealing with the Iranian threat."

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quicklist:15title: Mitt Romneycategory: Chinatext:"China has an interest that's very much like ours, in one respect, and that is they want a stable world. They don't want war, they don't want to see protectionism, they don't want to see the world break out into various forms of chaos. ...

"We can be a partner with China. We don't have to be an adversary in any way shape or form, we can work with them, we can collaborate with them if they're willing to be responsible."

quicklist:16title: Barack Obamacategory: Chinatext:"China is both an adversary but also a potential partner in the international community if it's following the rules. So my attitude coming into office was that we're going to insist that China plays by the same rules as everybody else."

quicklist: 17title: Mitt Romneycategory: Iraqtext: "Excuse me. It's a geopolitical foe, and I said in the same -- in the same paragraph I said ... Iran is the greatest national security threat we face. Russia does continue to battle us in the U.N. time and time again. I have clear eyes on this. I'm not going to wear rose-colored glasses when it comes to Russia or Mr. Putin. And I'm certainly not going to say to him, I'll give you more flexibility after the election. After the election, he'll get more backbone. No. 2, with regards to Iraq, you and I agreed I believe that there should be a status of forces."

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quicklist:18title: Barack Obamacategory: Iraqtext: "You say that you're not interested in duplicating what happened in Iraq. But just a few weeks ago, you said you think we should have more troops in Iraq right now. And the -- the challenge we have -- I know you haven't been in a position to actually execute foreign policy -- but every time you've offered an opinion, you've been wrong. You said we should have gone into Iraq, despite that fact that there were no weapons of mass destruction.

"You said that we should still have troops in Iraq to this day. You indicated that we shouldn't be passing nuclear treaties with Russia despite the fact that 71 senators, Democrats and Republicans, voted for it. You said that, first, we should not have a timeline in Afghanistan. Then you said we should. Now you say maybe or it depends, which means not only were you wrong, but you were also confusing in sending mixed messages both to our troops and our allies."

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