WASHINGTON, Aug. 7 (Xinhua) -- Seven Democratic presidential candidates on Tuesday evening attacked U.S. President George W. Bush administration's Iraq policy and agreed that the United States should withdraw its troops from Iraq.

    "We went into Iraq, a war that we should have never authorized and should not have been waged," Senator Barack Obama of Illinois, a front-runner in the Democratic field, said at televised the AFL-CIO presidential forum in Chicago. The debate was broadcast live by MSNBC.

    Obama proposed a phased redeployment of U.S. troops in Iraq, by which, he said, the United States could stabilize Iraq and make sure that al Qaida would not take over Iraq in the long term. But the United States could still have troops in the region, outside of Iraq, to fight against terrorism, he said.

    The United States was not safer than it had been after the Sept. 11 attacks, because the administration had a series of terrible decisions in its foreign policy, he said.

    "It has fanned the flames of anti-American sentiment. It has, more importantly, allowed us to neglect the situation in Afghanistan," he said.

    Obama said that if elected president, he would want U.S. forces to fight "on the right battlefield."

    "And what that means is getting out of Iraq and refocusing our attention on the war that can be won in Afghanistan," he said.

    Senator Hillary Clinton of New York, another front-runner, said she had a three-point plan to get U.S. forces out of Iraq, by redeploying the troops, putting more pressure on the Iraqi government, and launching an intensive diplomatic effort. "We've got to get out of Iraq smarter than we got in," she said.

    John Edwards, former senator from North Carolina, said that if elected president, "I'd draw 40,000 to 50,000 troops out today."

    Edwards said his administration would engage the Iraqi government and the Sunni and Shia leadership into trying to reach some kind of political reconciliation, and "make a serious, intense, diplomatic effort" such as bringing Iran and Syria and others in the region in helping provide stability in Iraq.

    Bill Richardson, governor of New Mexico, said that by withdrawing from Iraq, "the real peace and reconciliation in that country can begin."

    Senator Christopher Dodd of Connecticut said the United States could withdraw 2.5 divisions of troops from Iraq each month, and then engage in "a robust approach on diplomacy."

    "The United States has been successful, in both Democratic and Republican administrations, over the years, when we have drawn the diplomatic arrow out of our quiver here, to make a difference around the world," he said.

    Representative Dennis Kucinich of Ohio said the United States needed to get its troops out of Iraq now. He suggested that the White House use the war funding to bring the troops home and set in motion an international security and peacekeeping force that would stabilize Iraq.

    Senator Joseph Biden also took part in the 90-minute debate, which also touched on other issues, such as health care, immigration, energy, how to deal with al Qaida in Pakistan and how to prevent jobs from moving overseas.