Bill Nelson: “on the basis of the very kind comments of the Senator from Illinois and others, very reasoned comments, many of these…”

“on the basis of the very kind comments of the Senator from Illinois and others, very reasoned comments, many of these comments having been stimulated by the Iraq Study Group, which Mr. Baker and Mr. Hamilton both made their first presentation to the Congress, to our Senate Armed Services Committee, back in early December, there is a lot of wisdom in this. The members of this study commission are some of the finest public servants to have been produced in this country and who obviously have the interest of this country at heart and who are struggling through this thicket of unclear occurrences in the Middle East and Central Asia. The goal is to figure a way in which there might be a chance at stabilizing Iraq politically and economically so that country has a chance to continue to exist with a democratically elected government. Yet, at this point, it is certainly not clear that stability is going to materialize. We certainly hope it does because of the consequences for America and for the rest of the free world if Iraq crumbles into chaos. Looming over that entire region is an ascendant Iran, an Iran that is penetrating its influence, not only through the Shiites in Iraq but through its efforts in other parts of the Middle East, through Syria, through Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in the Palestinian Territories and as a result, we see the increasing influence of Iran and their brand of Shiite Islam.”