US shouldn't preach to Arab nations on Iraq

It is foolish to assume that the ground reality in Iraq is improving. It is also naive to think that nation-building is a simple task that is easily achieved within a short period of time. Iraq remains today entrapped in violence and under occupation.

The recent call by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Arab nations to provide assistance to Iraq by offering diplomatic ties and debt relief is just meaningless.

"At some point the Arab states need to take yes for an answer... There has been progress on the ground both in terms of the security situation and in terms of Iraqi political reconciliation. [Arab states] are going to have to take note of that. The neighbours kept making a case that the security situation has to get better. It has. They kept making a case that political reconciliation needed to make strides forward. It is making strides forward," she said.

But the level of instability in Iraq makes the situation further away from the rosy picture that Rice has described. In fact, the US is in no position to lecture Arab states on the virtues of having a stable Iraq for the country's disintegration would affect this region more so than any other.

Neither can the Americans preach which actions Arab states should take as it is the sovereign right of each country to decide upon.

The question here is not really about the role of Arab countries in helping Iraq to build its future for this is an unquestionable obligation on the part of the Arab world towards the country.

The real issue at hand here is the ineffectiveness and serious failure of the American post-invasion plan. Now it is too late for the American administration to urge or persuade others to act in the interest of Iraq.