Gov. Linda Lingle and challenger Randall Iwase clashed last night over the war in Iraq, where to lock up Hawai'i's prisoners and Lingle's ties to President Bush, in the only televised debate the two have agreed to before the Nov. 7 election.

Iwase, a Democrat, called on Republican Lingle to repudiate her early support for the war and called for a timetable for withdrawing U.S. forces.

"Are you ready to admit that you and President Bush were wrong about Iraq, and will you pick up the phone and call your friend George Bush on behalf of Hawai'i's people and demand an exit strategy for our troops?" Iwase asked Lingle directly.

Lingle, who had clearly anticipated the challenge, said such issues should not be taken lightly, and that she had attended funerals of troops from Hawai'i who had died in the war.

Lingle noted that both parties had strongly supported the war at first, and said there had been reason to fear a threat after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.

"War is a terrible thing, it's not something that any of us wants to do. But at this time in our nation's history, the majority of our elected leaders believed it was the right thing to do," Lingle said.

"Our men and women serving in Iraq and Afghanistan are doing an outstanding job, and to come up with an artificial timetable could undercut everything that they are doing and would put them at risk," she said.

Lingle said she had visited Iraq to support U.S. forces and hopes the war will end as soon as possible, but "we should never telegraph a timetable to the terrorists to let them know when that would be."

Iwase blasted Lingle for continuing the controversial practice of shipping Hawai'i's inmates to private Mainland prisons and called for the construction of a new prison in Hawai'i.

But Lingle challenged Iwase to specify where another prison would be built, and said her main priority is to ensure the safety of law-abiding citizens. Iwase did not name a location, but said Hawai'i is giving up the opportunity to "create a corrections industry" by shipping prisoners away.

The state now spends about $40 million a year for about 1,950 Hawai'i felons in prisons in Mississippi, Oklahoma, Arizona and Kentucky because Hawai'i's facilities are too crowded.

Iwase repeatedly invoked Lingle's ties to Bush, pulled out a picture of Lingle and the Republican president together, and noted that Lingle had once referred to Bush as one of the nation's best presidents ever.

Lingle said she was disappointed that Bush had opposed federal recognition for Native Hawaiians but applauded his designation of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands as a marine national monument, and said she is proud of her links to him.

Iwase suggested the monument designation had been a consolation prize for Bush's opposition to the Native Hawaiian recognition bill sponsored by U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka.

"It was within a week of the failure of the Akaka bill," Iwase said. "I think a favor was done to the governor by the president of the United States."

Lingle later told reporters that there had been "absolutely no connection" between the two issues, and that she believed Iwase had raised the issue to diminish the magnitude of the monument designation.

Lingle repeatedly touted her administration's effort to get tough on sexual predators and other criminals.

She said a new "three strikes and you're out" law that requires mandatory prison terms of 30 years to life for violent felons had made Hawai'i safer.

But she later told The Advertiser that she was not sure whether anyone had actually been sentenced under the new law yet. She said she was confident that anyone with two strikes against them would think twice about committing a new crime, however.

Reach Johnny Brannon at jbrannon@honoluluadvertiser.com.