Not strange if one reconizes that they are ARAB nationalists. Iraq is a political abstraction. But most likely most of them as local Sunnis who are fighting desperately to retain their former hegemony.
But again, the evidence points to the opposite conclusion. While there are some locals, most likely most of them, and most of the leadership are not.
As for the notion of pan-arabism, one is on slightly better footing, but that most certainly is not what Matthews is talking about.