Bill Nelson: “I wanted to ask the Senator a question, but first I want to thank him for his very thoughtful and almost scholarly…”

“I wanted to ask the Senator a question, but first I want to thank him for his very thoughtful and almost scholarly exposition of an examination of the situation in which we find ourselves in Iraq. I thank him for the service to his country, first in State government, rising to the position of Governor of his State, and now these many years as the Senator from West Virginia. The question I want to ask the Senator is, in his statement about the antipathy between Sunnis and Shiites--and he noted the historical antipathy as it goes back, he said, to the time of Muhammad. Indeed, we saw that first erupt from--I guess it was Muhammad's grandson at the Battle of Karbala in 680 A.D., and as a result of the murder--or the defeat of the grandson at that point, it was that group that was defeated that went on, out of revenge, to become the Shiites--a minority among all Muslims but nevertheless one that was potent and built on revenge. Is this the understanding of history the Senator from West Virginia recalls in his statement and why it is so difficult for us as an outside power to come in, in the middle of that sectarian strife, and try to bring about reconciliation?”