The Democratic debate stage drama in Iowa Tuesday was far from the explosion some Democrats feared.

Candidates moved with ease through a variety of topics, disagreeing with each other but generally avoiding personal attacks.

Senator Bernie Sanders did step up his attacks on former vice president Joe Biden over his past support of the Iraq War and broad free-trade agreements. Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, who was mired in the middle of the pack, seized on Elizabeth Warren’s shifting positions on health care.

Billionaire Tom Steyer acknowledged making money from investments in the fossil fuel industry, but highlighted his decade-long fight to combat climate change, an issue that came up repeatedly throughout the night.

Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, sometimes struggled for attention in a debate that often featured points of conflict between his rivals. Perhaps his strongest moment came when he described how, as a military veteran who is vocal about his faith, he could stand up to Donald Trump in a general election.

“I’m ready to take on Donald Trump because when he gets to the tough talk and the chest thumping, he’ll have to stand next to an American war veteran and explain how he pretended bone spurs made him ineligible to serve,” Buttigieg said. “And if a guy like Donald Trump keeps trying to use religion to somehow recruit Christianity into the GOP, I will be standing there not afraid to talk about a different way to answer the call of faith and insist that God does not belong to a political party.”

Questions surrounding war and foreign policy dominated early on. Sanders drew a sharp contrast with Biden by noting his own opposition to a 2002 measure authorizing military action against Iraq.

Sanders called the Iraq invasion “the worst foreign policy blunder in the modern history of this country.”

“I did everything I could to prevent that war,” Sanders said. “Joe saw it differently.”

Biden acknowledged that his 2002 vote to authorize military action was “a mistake,” but highlighted his role in the Obama administration helping to draw down the U.S. military presence in the region.

Several candidates condemned Trump’s recent move to kill Iran’s top general and his decision to keep U.S. troops in the region.

“We have to get combat troops out,” declared Warren, who also called for reducing the military budget.

Others, including Buttigieg, Biden and Klobuchar, said they favored maintaining a small military presence in the Middle East.

“I bring a different perspective,” said Buttigeg. “We can continue to remain engaged without having an endless commitment to ground troops.”-AP

US Democratic presidential candidate Senator Elizabeth Warren, left and Senator Bernie Sanders, on Tuesday, after a Democratic presidential primary debate hosted by CNN and the Des Moines Register in Des Moines, Iowa.

Democratic presidential candidates mostly disagree, but avoid attacks