Washington ? On the day Saddam Hussein’s regime collapsed, divisions about the war in Iraq took center stage in the first joint appearance of the nine candidates running for the Democratic presidential nomination.

The candidates intended to lay out their agendas on children’s issues at a forum sponsored by the Children’s Defense Fund. But with U.S. military advances dominating the news, the first question from a panel of journalists was about the war.

Five of the candidates opposed the war and defended their position despite the U.S. success in Baghdad. The Bush administration’s attack on Iraq sets a dangerous precedent of pre-emption, they said, and the money spent on the war and reconstruction could be better spent on problems at home.

“For $200 billion, we can insure every child in this country under the age of 18,” said former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, who opposed going to war without U.N. backing. “It seems to me like that is a better investment.”

Florida Sen. Bob Graham, making his first appearance as a presidential candidate, said he voted against the resolution granting authority for the military strike because he felt the war would make Americans less secure. He said the United States should focus on pursuing the shadowy group of international terrorists responsible for the Sept. 11 attacks instead of Saddam Hussein.

“Saddam Hussein is an evil person,” Graham said. “He lives in a neighborhood with lots of evil people. The question is where do we put our priorities?”

Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich, former Illinois Sen. Carol Moseley Braun and civil rights advocated Al Sharpton of New York also maintained their opposition to the war. “I do not see where we have seen the nuclear weapons that we were told were there,” Sharpton said.

The war has been a delicate issue for Democrats since many core party activists oppose it. But polls show most Americans are behind Bush’s effort in Iraq.

The four candidates who voted to give Bush authority to attack Iraq — Rep. Dick Gephardt and Sens. John Edwards of North Carolina, John Kerry of Massachusetts and Joe Lieberman of Connecticut — were asked whether the costs of the war will hurt domestic programs.

Gephardt said the war would create larger deficits, but as president he would roll back almost all of Bush’s tax cuts and fund health care for every American.

“It’s the moral thing to do, it’s the right thing to do, and as president I will get it done,” he said.

Lieberman and Edwards said there shouldn’t be a choice between war and domestic programs. “It’s actually the responsibility of the president of the United States to do two things at one time,” Edwards said.

“If we pull back the tax cut, we could both protect our security and provide a better life for our children,” Lieberman said.

Kerry said that although he voted for the resolution and supported disarmament of Saddam, he does not support the way that Bush went to war.