By Andrew Davidson, Kas Roussy and Mark Gollom of CBC News, from the George Bush-Bill Clinton debate of U.S./Canadian issues in Toronto:

After giving their opening remarks, former U.S. presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush moved on to a discussion moderated by Frank McKenna, Canada's former ambassador to the U.S.

Saying he wanted to explore areas where the pair agreed and disagreed, McKenna asked for each man's view about Iraq and Afghanistan.

Clinton says he supported the action in Iraq, but would have preferred it if Hans Blix had been given more time to conduct inspections for weapons of mass destruction. "We disagree on that, but the real issue is what in the world are we going to do now?"

Clinton added that he sees the Pakistan's instability and the Afghan drug trade as the biggest issues in that region. Afghans "want to be free, they don't want to be under the Taliban again," he said.

Bush called the premise that Iraq distracted from Afghan war "false."

"Getting rid of the heinous dictator Saddam Hussein has made the world a safer place," he said.

He also thanked Canada for standing with the U.S. in Afghanistan.

On the issue of Cuba, Bush said he felt it was "important" to keep the U.S. trade embargo in place.

Clinton said his view on Cuba was "more like that of the current Secretary of State," (his wife Hillary), generating laughter from the crowd.

Cuba is our neighbour, he told the audience, and "they ought to be part of our future."

Clinton then called for Congress to give the current president the power to be flexible with Cuba and negotiate a better future for both countries.