Baker, Hamilton appear before senate panel

WASHINGTON (AP) — The leaders of the Iraq Study Group say their recommendations on ending US involvement in Iraq must be taken as a whole, and not piecemeal.

Co-chairman James Baker says he hopes the administration doesn't treat the report “like a fruit salad,” choosing one idea while rejecting others.

The other co-chairman, former congressman Lee Hamilton, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that the Bush administration and Congress must work together in forging a new course in Iraq.

Hamilton says the approach "can't be pie in the sky, it can't be idealistic, it has to be pragmatic."

The panel called for a phase-out of the US combat role by 2008. It rejected the idea of increasing the number of combat troops in Iraq.

Arizona Senator John McCain disagreed on that point. He wants to increase the number of US troops in Iraq.