Sen. John Edwards and Vice President Dick Cheney clashed on Iraq in Tuesday night's lively and sometime acrimonious vice presidential debate.

Edwards accused the Bush Administration of "not being straight'' with the American people about the war in Iraq and said the United States is bearing 90 per cent of the cost and suffering 90 per cent of the dead and wounded.

Cheney challenged this, saying the Iraqi security forces had taken nearly half of the casualties.

The debate, which allowed Cheney and Edwards to cross-question, led to some heated arguments.