ABSTRACT
Iraqi security and paramilitary forces are a key tool in Iraq's efforts to use force to put pressure on its Gulf neighbors and the West. Iraq has long manipulated extremist groups and movements to serve its ambitions and ideological goals. Like other radical Middle Eastern states, Iraq has found such exploitation to be a cheap and effective substitute for overt political and military action. Such activities allow Iraq to partially decouple its actions from public responsibility, and to suddenly shift support from one group to another, and to disavow a given group at will. Iraq is likely to remain a real "terrorist nation" as long as it is under the control of Saddam Hussein, or any similar "centrist" regime. This is not a threat that can be dealt with through sanctions—in fact, Iraq may increase its unconventional warfare and terrorist efforts in reaction to prolonged sanctions.
