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By Kay Henderson

DES MOINES, Iowa, Aug 5 (Reuters) - Republican presidential contenders waded into a Democratic foreign policy row on Sunday, and argued over how far the United States should go in striking terrorist targets abroad.

Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, running for the Democratic presidential nomination, said last week he would be willing to launch strikes against al Qaeda targets in Pakistan if Islamabad took no action.

That comment, and a previous one that he would be willing to meet without preconditions leaders of nations such as Iran and Syria, sparked a sharp dispute with Democrat front-runner Hillary Clinton who accused him of being naive.

Mitt Romney, speaking at a debate on Sunday with eight other Republican candidates in the key electoral state of Iowa, mocked Obama for his statements, saying he was confused between friends and enemies.

"In one week, he went from saying he's going to sit down, you know, for tea, with our enemies, but then he's going to bomb our allies," said Romney, a former governor of Massachusetts. "I mean, he's gone from Jane Fonda to Dr. Strangelove in one week."

But Obama found some support from Rudy Giuliani, the former New York mayor who dealt with the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks and who is the early leader in national polls on the wide open Republican field for the November 2008 election.

Giuliani, hoping to make up for his perceived lack of conservative credentials with a tough stance on terrorism, said such a strike without Pakistan permission was an option if there was no other way to "crush" al Qaeda.

Sen. John McCain, whose campaign race has stumbled partly due to his support for the unpopular Iraq war, appeared to side more with Clinton by saying it would be naive to attack Pakistan without "thinking it through."

"What if a radical Islamic government were to take place because we triggered it with an attack?" he said.

The debate presented by ABC News in Iowa, which hosts the first caucuses in the party nominating process in January, saw no clear victories for any of the nine candidates ahead of a closely watched party straw poll here next weekend.

Giuliani and McCain, a senator from Arizona, are not actively taking part in next Saturday's Iowa poll, raising the pressure on Romney to post a convincing victory in the contest that George W. Bush won in 1999 on his way to the presidency.

Poor showings by outside bets such as former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson could hasten their exit from the race.

On the Iraq war, several candidates voiced frustration with the Iraqi government's inability to pass crucial laws but all except long-shot candidate Rep. Ron Paul of Texas stopped short of joining calls for U.S. troops to pull out.

Turning to domestic issues, the Republicans said the health and tax systems needed reform but steered clear of anything involving raising taxes -- anathema to many party supporters -- and accused Democrats of wanting to "socialize" health care.

Absent from the debate was actor and former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson, who has yet to declare his widely expected candidacy. An average of recent polls by realclearpolitics.com shows Thompson running in second place with 19.8 percent support behind Giuliani at 25.5 percent and ahead of McCain at 13.5 percent and Romney at 10 percent.

But Romney was leading the same Web site's average of polls for the Iowa caucus with 23.5 percent, followed by Giuliani on 16 percent, Thompson on 15.3 and McCain on 10.8.

In a light-hearted moment, Giuliani drew laughter from the audience with his answer to a question about what mistakes the candidates most regretted. While most of the men mentioned somber religious or personal revelations, the twice-divorced Giuliani poked fun at his colorful personal history.

"To have a description of my mistakes in 30 seconds?" he said to moderator George Stephanopoulos. "Your father is a priest. I'm going to explain it to your father, not to you."

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