PETERBOROUGH -- Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani discussed the Iraq war, Iran and the nuclear threat, the economy, taxes and school choice at the Town House Sunday.

Giuliani said the next president of the United States will have to be on the offense to defend the country against "Islamic terrorism."

"We shouldn't prematurely withdraw out of Iraq out of frustration," he said.

He also took a strong position on Iran, which he said "wants to become nuclear."

"The worst nightmare of the cold war," Giuliani said was the threat that nuclear weapons would fall into the wrong hands.

"The American policy should be: They should not be allowed to have nuclear weapons," Giuliani said of Iran.

"America has to lead from strength," he said.

After the Iranian hostage crisis went on for 444 days, he said, the hostages were released within the hour when Ronald Reagan was sworn in as president.

"They obviously saw something different in the eyes of Ronald Reagan then in the eyes of Jimmy Carter," Giuliani said.

"We all want peace," he said, but the history of the 20th century reflects that, "We accomplish peace through strength. Weakness invites attacks."

Giuliani compared himself to the democratic candidates Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards on the economy and taxes.

"The Democrats want to go in the direction of much bigger government," he said. "They are going to put a lid on the growth in our society."

Giuliani said the way to stimulate a private economy is to reduce taxes.

He favors tort reform that would make the losing party pay all legal expenses and that would put limits on damages. "We've got to preserve our private sector," he said.

"America is great because we have individual rights and individual responsibilities," he said.

Giuliani said what citizens do with their money should be their choice, whether it's a pension or a child's education.

He does not support the "government knows best," which he said is the position of most Democrats. "Give the American people a little more freedom, even more freedom then they ever had before," he said.

Kennedy, Reagan and Bush reduced taxes and the economy grew, he said. "I reduced taxes in New York City and what happened? The economy grew."

Giuliani also said he is a proponent of school choice. Parents should be the primary decision makers, he said, choosing public, private, parochial, charter or home schooling. "Parents should make that choice and we should follow their choice."

American schools K through 12 are failing compared to other countries, but U.S. colleges lead academically, he said.

"You choose the college that you go to," he said. "You vote out of existence the failing colleges. Not true with K through 12."

Parents should receive the $8,000 to $10,000 the government is spending to educate children and put it into the education they want their child to have. "Millions of children are going to schools that their parents think stink."

"The parents would ultimately vote out of existence the schools that aren't working," he added.

Giuliani said another benefit is that a new system would get parents more involved with their children's education.

After speaking, Giuliani took questions from the audience.

Noel Landriani of Greenfield said it appears the current administration has not read many history books, since both Iraq and Iran are historically the most Western-friendly Middle East nations. Wouldn't conflict with Iran unite other Middle Eastern countries against the United States, Landriani asked.

Giuliani said he respectfully disagreed with Landriani's "sarcastic" comment about the Bush administration and said the reality is that Iran has been "an irresponsible regime with its state sponsorship of terrorism."

Giuliani said he has studied history. "We underestimated Hitler, we underestimated communism. ... We certainly underestimated Islamic terrorism under Bill Clinton," he said.

Giuliani said the United States should not underestimate Iran and its pursuit of nuclear weapons.

Although he supports the U.S. sanctions imposed on Iran last week, Giuliani said the sanctions need to be followed with strong leadership. "If the rest of the world thinks America is a paper tiger. They don't have to take the sanctions seriously, ... When you negotiate out of weakness you have no leverage. When you negotiate out of strength, you have a chance. ... If I was president of the United States I would not allow Iran to become a nuclear power."

William Robidoux, 9, of Temple asked Giuliani about of the safety of children living in Iraq and their ability to have normal lives in which they can safely go to school and play outside.

Giuliani agreed that when children can't safely go to school or play outside, or even do their homework without fear, democracy is just a theory. "We did help create a democracy, but we didn't help create stability," he said. "We've got to have the patience to let that happen."

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By Meghan Pierce