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CORAL GABLES, Fla. — Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton insisted Sunday night that it's time to start pulling U.S. troops out of Iraq as she and her rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination debated in the first presidential debate ever broadcast in Spanish.

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson challenged Clinton to get every U.S. soldier out, not just some.

"I'd bring them all home within six to eight months," he said in the debate which was broadcast on Univision, the nation's largest Spanish-language network. "There is a basic difference between all of us here ... This is a fundamental issue."

Clinton said there is no military solution in Iraq.

"I believe we should start bringing our troops home," she said. "We need to quit refereeing their civil war and bring our troops home as soon as possible."

Anchors Jorge Ramos and Maria Elena Salinas posed questions in Spanish and the candidates had earpieces to hear simultaneous translations into English. The candidates' responses were simultaneously translated into Spanish for broadcast, and English-speaking viewers could watch using the closed caption service on their televisions.

Richardson, one of two candidate who speak fluent Spanish, objected to the debate rules that required all candidates to answer in English.

"I'm disappointed today that 43 million Latinos in this country, for them not to hear one of their own speak Spanish, " said Richardson. "In other words, Univision is promoting English-only in this debate."

The candidates were asked why they supported a wall along the Mexican border — and not a similar fence along the U.S.-Canadian border — a question that seemed to catch them slightly off-guard.

Most avoided answering directly, saying simply that they believed security was a key part of comprehensive immigration reform.

Illinois Sen. Barack Obama spoke of his father's experience as an immigrant and noted that he supported the comprehensive immigration bill that passed the U.S. Senate last year.

Richardson, who has opposed the wall, said he would commit to comprehensive reform in the first year.

The Iraq war lead the debate, with the moderators noting that two-thirds of Hispanics support a withdrawal from Iraq. Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich was loudly applauded for saying he would pull troops out.

Obama aligned himself with Kucinich. "I was a strong opponent of the war, as Dennis was," he said.

Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards said he's concerned a progress report by U.S. commanding Gen. David Petraeus "will basically be a sales job by the White House."

Delaware Sen. Joe Biden skipped the debate to prepare for a Foreign Relations Committee hearing that he is scheduled to chair today on the Petraeus report.

Democratic hopeful Sen. Christopher Dodd, who served in the Peace Corps in the Dominican Republic, also speaks Spanish fluently and had objected to the rules requiring responses in English.

Before the debate even began, Dodd and Richardson were quick to trot out their Spanish for the audience.

Asked if he could hear during a sound check Dodd responded in Spanish: "Perfectly well."

Not to be outdone, Richardson added in Spanish: "I also hear you well." He began his first answer

Former Alaska Sen. Mike Gravel boasted that he's also bilingual — in French. "I honor everyone who comes to this country as an immigrant because we are all immigrants.