| Lieberman: U.S. must prevent religious war CHARLESTON, S.C. -- Democratic presidential candidate Joe Lieberman said Saddam Hussein, Osama bin Laden and the al-Qaida terrorist network are trying to incite a global religious war, and said Iraq is the testing ground for the United States to prevent it. "It is unbelievable to think about it in the 21st century, with modern telecommunication, science, medicine, that we could be plunged back into a primitive religious conflict," Lieberman said on Fox News Sunday. "But unless we defeat these extremists and create bridges to the rest of the Islamic world to show what American values are all about and help them live a better life, that may happen." He said Islamic fanatics are trying to pit themselves against Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism and all Muslims who do not agree with their views. "We cannot let that happen, and it's within our power to stop it," he said. In South Carolina for a meeting Sunday with Charleston area Democrats, the Connecticut senator said President Bush was right to visit troops in Iraq on Thanksgiving. A supporter of the war in Iraq, Lieberman said it was important Bush make it clear that U.S. troops were prepared to say in Iraq until the country is stabilized. "This has now become a great battle, not only to secure the victory" the military won in Iraq, "but to win a victory over the terrorists," he said. "If we don't, they will be emboldened, and we will pay for it in the future."
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