Jan. 24 Republican debate transcript

Russert: Mayor Giuliani, was the war a good idea and worth the price in blood and treasure?

Giuliani: It's very, very interesting, the way you put that question is with a poll, because when the polls were six and seven out of 10 Americans thinking it was a good idea, Hillary Clinton was in favor of the war. And now when the polls are six out of 10 are against, Hillary Clinton is against the war.

To be...

Russert: What does Rudy Giuliani think?

Giuliani: I was for it when six out of 10 were for it. I'm for it when six out of 10 are against it. I'm for it not because of polls, but because America is in a war, an Islamic terrorist war against us.

America has succeed in Iraq and the goal in Iraq is an Iraq that's stable and an ally of the United States. And to be president of the United States, you have to be able to read polls, but you can't have them push you around.

Russert: Congressman Paul, was the war a good idea, worth the blood and treasure that we have spent?

Paul: It was a very bad idea and it wasn't worth it.

The Al Qaida wasn't there then. They're there now. There were no weapons of mass destruction, had nothing to do with 9/11. There was no aggression.

This decision on policy was made in 1998 under the previous administration, because they called for the removal of Saddam Hussein. It wasn't worth it and it's a sad story, because we started that war and we should never be a country that starts war needlessly.

Russert: Governor Huckabee, was the war a good idea? Is it worth the cost in blood and treasure?

Huckabee: I supported the president when he led us into this, as did the Democrats, and I think we owe him not a lot of scorn. We owe him our thanks that he had the courage to recognize there was a potential of weapons of mass destruction and rather than wait until we had another attack, he went and made sure that it wasn't going to happen from Saddam Hussein.

Now, everybody can look back and say, "Oh, well, we didn't find the weapons." It doesn't mean they weren't there. Just because you didn't find every Easter egg didn't mean that it wasn't planted.

My point is that when the president acted, this country was united in believing it was a necessary thing to do. It's easy to second guess a president. Whoever of us is elected will be second guessed, too, but I hope we have the courage and the resolve, once we commit to something, to make sure that we don't back away just because the polls say we should.

Russert: Governor Romney, was the war in Iraq a good idea, worth the cost in blood and treasure we have spent?

Romney: It was the right decision to go into Iraq. I supported it at the time. I support it now.

It was not well managed after the takedown of Saddam Hussein and his military. That was done brilliantly, an extraordinary success. But in the years that followed, it was not well -- we were under- managed, under-prepared, under-planned, under-staffed and then we came into the phase that we have now.

The plan that President Bush and General Petraeus put together is working. It's changing lives there and, perhaps most importantly, it's making sure that Al Qaida and no other group like them is becoming a superpower, if you will, in the communities and having a safe haven from which they launch attacks against us.

It's critical for us. When we think about debating the Democrats, they might want to go back and talk about what happened at the beginning. But the most important issue is what do we do now, and they're just run and retreat, regardless of the consequences, is going to be a real problem for them when they face a debate with a Republican on the stage.

Williams: Governor Romney, thanks. Time is up.

As we go to a break, two quick notes. We've asked members of the audience, prior to going on the air tonight, to not applaud, no outbursts of any kind. We're going to have to repeat that request.

Number two, we have embedded in tonight's broadcast two short commercial breaks to give everyone in here a break. We're going to take the first of those now.

When we come back in the next segment, the candidates will ask each other the questions.

(Commercial)