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Congressman Hunter Recommends More Focus on Iraqi Troops

A Pentagon review of the Iraq policy is set to outline three possible strategies - "Go Big," "Go Long" and "Go Home." – San Diego Republican Congressman Duncan Hunter announced an alternative today w

Congressman Hunter Recommends More Focus on Iraqi Troops

A Pentagon review of the Iraq policy is set to outline three possible strategies - "Go Big," "Go Long" and "Go Home." – San Diego Republican Congressman Duncan Hunter announced an alternative today which he calls “Go Iraq.” From Capitol Hill, Benjamin Shaw has more.

There are three key recommended options in the review- send more troops, downsize the force but stay longer, or pull out. But Congressman Hunter, who recently announced he is considering a run for the White House in 2008, says we should be focusing on Iraqi troops- not American.

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Hunter: Before we start juggling deployments and planning a blueprint for a different strategy that requires different levels of troops, let’s use what we’ve got, what we’ve trained.

Hunter has proposed moving Iraq battalions out of provinces that are relatively peaceful and into hot spots around the country. Last month Hunter sent a letter to the President and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, recommending such a move, but Iraqi troop movement is ultimately controlled by the Iraqi government.
From Capitol Hill, I’m Benjamin Shaw, KPBS News.