"There is a conflict between Saudi Arabia and Iran being fought on the soil of Iraq," said Rubaaie; a conflict between Sunnis and Shiites. He made that comment at a symposium on security in the Gulf, organized by the London-based International Institute of Strategic Studies.
Mr. Rubaaie was very lucid in his advice to the United States, whom he called an ally, saying: "We are heading west."
Optimism is a good thing, but too much optimism can lead to deception. And in a country such as Iraq, an overdose of optimism is outright dangerous. Optimism, particularly in a war zone, is like a narcotic: it helps one get through the bad days. And Iraq has certainly had its fair share of bad days. But again, one must caution not to be too optimistic as it can blur the mind, like a bad drug. This seems to be the case with Iraq's national security adviser, Moaffak al-Rubaaie.
While his address was eloquent, Mr. Rubaaie must have taken more than one pill of the optimism drug Sunday morning to the point that he had become almost delirious.
Painting a rosy picture of one's country in time of crisis no doubt helps one get through the day. Yes, it's true that Iraq is experiencing a wave of unprecedented calm. Several sources, from the U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates, to our own correspondent in Iraq, are reporting an abatement in violence.
Nonetheless, Iraq is far from being 100 percent "normal." And to say that crime in Baghdad is no greater than that of any major metropolitan is almost delirious.
There is less violence in Iraq, but violence, regrettably is still there. Improvised explosive devices, known as IEDs, still explode every now and then and suicide bombers continue to strike killing civilians, albeit, on a lesser scale.
Yet in the mind of the national security adviser, the violence in Baghdad today is no worse than in any major metropolitan city. Truth be told, war sometimes plays games on people's minds. Those trapped in the inferno of violent conflict tend to grab at the slightest chance of normality, hoping it will give them some a somewhat saner mindset in the midst of their chaotic environment.
But if the fog of war helped Rubaaie paint Iraq as a more peaceful place than it actually is, he had no trouble analyzing what he described as a proxy war being fought in Iraq by Saudi Arabia and Iran.
"There is a conflict between Saudi Arabia and Iran being fought on the soil of Iraq," said Rubaaie; a conflict between Sunnis and Shiites. He made that comment at a symposium on security in the Gulf, organized by the London-based International Institute of Strategic Studies.
Mr. Rubaaie was very lucid in his advice to the United States, whom he called an ally, saying: "We are heading west."
Although the national security adviser opened on an optimistic note, he finished with a rather pessimistic tone, giving advice to the U.S. Bush administration, which is likely to go unheeded:
"You cannot stabilize Iraq while destabilizing Iran," Rubaaie said, adding that he had one message for the United States: "Until the U.S. engages with Iran and Syria, there will be no solution."
