Huckabee: Arm, train Kurds

WASHINGTON, Oct. 21 (UPI) -- Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee said Sunday he thinks Iraqi Kurds can rid their territory of terrorist cells if properly equipped and trained.

Huckabee, a Republican running for president, said on "Fox News Sunday" he doesn't want to see U.S. troops assigned to deal with Kurdish insurgents crossing over into Turkey, prompting retaliatory forays by the Turks.

"It's not an exciting thing to see Turkey move across that border," Huckabee said. "But the more we can do to bolster the Kurds, I think that's our best strategy."

Huckabee said the United States needs to be "very careful" about siding with either Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf or opposition leader Benazir Bhutto.

"That's a decision that the people of Pakistan are going to have to make, and it seems that Bhutto and Musharraf are beginning to try to form some type of coalition," he said. "But we need to keep our eyes on Pakistan. I think we have sort of taken a view that everything is OK there, and it's not OK there."