White House rivals lock horns over war and economic turmoil

The US presidential candidates clashed over the Iraq war and the nation’s economic future in their first head-to-head debate of the 2008 election.

Barack Obama wasted no time in tying his Republican rival John McCain to the unpopular presidency of George Bush, saying the financial crisis engulfing the country was the “final verdict on eight years of failed economic policies promoted by President Bush and supported by Senator McCain”.