Rice says:
What [the Arab states] need to do is confirm and work for Iraq’s Arab identity. Iraq is a founding member of the Arab League, and so Iraq should be fully reincorporated into the Arab world. I think that, in and of itself, will begin to shield from influences of Iran that are nefarious influences. Iran is a neighbor. It’s going to have influence. But Iraq is, first and foremost, an Arab state. It’s a state in which Iraqi nationalism is very strong, and the neighbors ought to be reinforcing that.
On-the-Record Briefing by Secretary Rice, Dep. State. April 17, 2008
But what will the "Arab street" think of, when they here the above. I suggest they will remind this:
Pan-Arab Nationalism was a secular, socialist ideology en vogue for much of the 20th century that called for unity among the Arab peoples of the Middle East. Promoted by pro-independence leaders such as Egypt’s former president, Gamal Abdel Nasser, Pan-Arab Nationalism sought to create a Middle East independent from the colonial meddling and occupation of Europe.
…
Contrary to some rather inaccurate portryals of Iraq’s links with Islamic terrorism, former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and his Baath party were Arab nationalists.
Arab Nationalism, About.com
The secular Arab nationalism of Nasser declined after the lost 1967 war with Israel. It has been replaced by the Islamic Arab movement – Hezbollah, Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas, Sadr. That is today’s Arab identity. The Washington sponsored dictatorships in the Middle East will not like any appeal for that.
Applying Occam’s razor, Rice likely has no idea what she is calling for. Still she may reap what she sows.