Ben Carson in Fox News 2015 GOP primary debate

On Homeland Security: Don't tie military's hands in terrorism fight, even torture

CARSON: What we do in order to get the information that we need is our business, and I wouldn't necessarily be broadcasting what we're going to do. We've gotten into this mindset of fighting politically correct wars. There is no such thing as a politically correct war. The left, of course, will say Carson doesn't believe in the Geneva Convention: Carson doesn't believe in fighting stupid wars. And what we have to remember is we want to utilize the tremendous intellect that we have in the military to win wars. And I've talked to a lot of the generals, a lot of our advanced people. And believe me, if we gave them the mission, which is what the commander-in-chief does, they would be able to carry it out. And if we don't tie their hands behind their back, they will do it extremely effectively.

On Homeland Security: Our armed forces are at smallest size in decades

Our friends can't trust us anymore. You know, Ukraine was a nuclear-armed state. They gave away their nuclear arms with the understanding that we would protect them. We won't even give them offensive weapons.

We turned our back on Israel, our ally. In a situation like [military action after Syria crossed the "redline" of chemical weapons], of course Obama's not going to be able to do anything. I would shore up our military first, because if you don't get the military right, nothing else is going to work.

On Principles & Values: Important experience is having a brain, not being politician

CARSON: Well, I could take issue with all of those things, but we don't have time. But I will say, the thing that is probably most important is having a brain, and to be able to figure things out and learn things very rapidly. Experience comes from a large number of different arenas, and America became a great nation early on not because it was flooded with politicians, but because it was flooded with people who understood the value of personal responsibility, hard work, creativity & innovation.

On Principles & Values: Secular progressives cause our problems; Hillary is epitome

CARSON: If Hillary is the candidate, which I doubt, that would be a dream come true. She is the epitome of the secular progressive movement. And she counts on the fact that people are uninformed, the Alinsky Model, taking advantage of useful idiots. Well, I just happen to believe that people are not stupid. And the way I will come at it is to educate people, help people to actually understand that it is that progressive movement that is causing them the problems. You know, you look at the national debt and how it's being driven up. If I was trying to destroy this country, what I would do is find a way to drive wedges between all the people, drive the debt to an unsustainable level, and then step off the stage as a world leader and let our enemies increase while we decreased our military capacity. And that's what she's doing.

On Principles & Values: Our brain makes us who we are, not our skin

CARSON: Well, I think the bully pulpit is a wonderful place to start healing that divide. You know, we have the purveyors of hatred who take every single incident between people of two races and try to make a race war out of it, and drive wedges into people. And this does not need to be done. You know, I was asked by an NPR reporter once, why don't I talk about race that often. I said it's because I'm a neurosurgeon. And she thought that was a strange response. I said, "you see, when I take someone to the operating room, I'm actually operating on the thing that makes them who they are. The skin doesn't make them who they are. The hair doesn't make them who they are." And it's time for us to move beyond that. Because our strength as a nation comes in our unity. We are the United States of America, not the divided states. And those who want to divide us are trying to divide us, and we shouldn't let them do it.

On Principles & Values: I'm the only one on this stage who separated Siamese twins

CARSON: Well, I haven't said anything about me being the only one to do anything, so let me try that. I'm the only one to separate Siamese twins. The only one to operate on babies while they were still in mother's womb, the only one to take out half of a brain, although you would think, if you go to Washington, that someone had beat me to it. But I'm very hopeful that I'm not the only one who's willing to pick up the baton of freedom, because freedom is not free, and we must fight for it every day. Every one of us must fight for it, because we're fighting for our children and the next generation.

On Tax Reform: God's a pretty fair guy, so tithing is better than FairTax

HUCKABEE: We can get rid of the Internal Revenue Service if we would pass the FairTax, and move power back where the founders believed it should have been all along.

Q: Dr. Carson, do you agree with that?

CARSON: What I agree with is that we need a significantly changed taxation system. And the one that I've advocated is based on tithing, because I think God is a pretty fair guy. And he said, you know, if you give me a tithe, it doesn't matter how much you make. If you've had a bumper crop, you don't owe me triple tithes. And if you've had no crops at all, you don't owe me no tithes. So there must be something inherently fair about that. And that's why I've advocated a proportional tax system. You make $10 billion, you pay a billion. You make $10, you pay one. And everybody gets treated the same way. And you get rid of the deductions, you get rid of all the loopholes. And I have a lot more to say about it.