...1st Presidential Debate 2004 Highlights...

Bush defended his decision to topple Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, saying the sacrifice made by 1,059 U.S. troops who have been killed in Iraq was "noble and worthy" and would make the country safer in the long term.

"We're being challenged like never before, and we have a duty to our country and to future generations of Americans to achieve a free Iraq, a free Afghanistan and to rid the world of weapons of mass destruction," Bush said.

Very early in the debate, the president conceded that he understood "everybody in this country doesn't agree with the decisions I've made, and I've made some tough decisions. But people know where I stand."

Again and again during the debate, Bush charged that Kerry's inconsistent positions on the Iraq war -- after voting for a congressional resolution authorizing Bush to use force -- would make it difficult for him to function as commander-in-chief, taking particular aim at Kerry's recent statement that Iraq was the "wrong war at the wrong place at the wrong time."

"The way to win this is to be steadfast and resolved," said Bush, who at one point cracked that the only thing consistent about Kerry's position on Iraq "is that he's been inconsistent."

However, Kerry insisted that despite the president's assertions to the contrary, "I've had one position -- one consistent position -- that Saddam Hussein was a threat. There was a right way to disarm him and a wrong way, and the president chose the wrong way."

Kerry said that the invasion of Iraq was an ill-conceived adventure that's "getting worse by the day" and has distracted the United States from the fight against terrorism, which Kerry insisted he could win to by fighting a smarter war.

"Smart means not diverting your attention from the real war on terror in Afghanistan against Osama bin Laden and taking it off to Iraq,'" Kerry said. "This president has made, I regret to say, a colossal error of judgment. And judgment is what we look for in the president of the United States of America."

Asked to enumerate those errors of judgment, Kerry said Bush didn't "exhaust the remedies of the United Nations" before invading Iraq, broke his promise that "he would go to war as a last resort" and "pushed our allies aside."

At one point in the debate, moderator Jim Lehrer asked Bush if the Iraq experience would make him more reluctant to launch preemptive military operations in the future. In response, the president insisted that he "never wanted to commit troops" but did so because "the enemy attacked us ... and I have a solemn duty to protect the American people."

That brought a quick retort from Kerry.

"Saddam Hussein didn't attack us. Osama bin Laden attacked us. Al Qaeda attacked us," he said.

Bush and Kerry agreed that the proliferation of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction were the greatest threat to the United States.

But they differed sharply on how to handle North Korea's nuclear aspirations.

Kerry said the U.S. should open bilateral talks with North Korea in addition to talks with the current coalition of nations -- the U.S. and five of North Korea's neighbors.

Bush said that was a bad idea.

"It's not going to work if we open up a dialogue with Kim Jong Il," Bush said. "He wants to unravel the six-party talks, or the five-nation coalition that's sending him a clear message."

North Korea has refused international demands that it dismantle its nuclear weapons program after agreeing during the Clinton administration to do so.

A second debate is set for October 8 at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, in front of a group of undecided voters.

A third debate scheduled for October 13 at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona, is expected to focus on economic and domestic policy.

A vice presidential debate is set for October 5 at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio.