By Susannah Price BBC, Washington

The election is 18 months away, but the race has begun

In the United States, nine Democrats who are all trying to become their party's presidential nominee have held their first debate.

The candidates disagreed about the US-led war in Iraq, tax cuts and health care.

The 90-minute debate took place in South Carolina, which will be one of the first states to hold its primary, where party supporters vote for their nominees for presidential challenger.

There is intense rivalry among the nine candidates and no clear leader as yet.

The divisions among the candidates became apparent when they were questioned about the war in Iraq.

DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES Joseph Lieberman John Edwards John Kerry Howard Dean Richard Gephardt Reverend Al Sharpton Carol Moseley-Braun Dennis Kucinich Bob Graham Candidates' profiles

Senator Joseph Lieberman, who was the Democrats' nominee for vice-president in the 2000 election, said he believed President George Bush did the right thing to go to war and warned that no Democrat would be elected president if they were not strong on defence.

Vietnam veteran Senator John Kerry agreed it was the right decision. But former Vermont Governor Howard Dean called it the wrong war at the wrong time, and community activist Reverend Al Sharpton said they could have disarmed Saddam Hussein working with the United Nations.

There was also disagreement over a proposal by another candidate, former Democrat leader in the House Richard Gephardt, for the government to pay for comprehensive health care.

Some candidates said they would not be willing to raise taxes to fund health coverage.

Although the presidential election is not until November 2004, the race has already begun to find a challenger to President Bush. The Democrats have a lot of ground to cover, given President Bush's lead in the latest opinion polls.

This kind of debate gives the candidates the chance to distinguish themselves early on and try to make a head start on the all-essential fundraising.