ABSTRACT

In this chapter, the author explores the concept of state sponsorship as it applies to one country, namely Iraq, which at least since the 1970s has been deeply involved in the support of international terrorism. During the 1980s, the main culprits usually involved three names, Libya, Iran and Syria, occasionally with the addition of others, such as the Sudan and North Korea; while more recently, Iraq has come to the fore. In 1988, say, Iraq was cited in the terrorism literature chiefly as an innocent victim. By late 1990, though, there was widespread panic about the allegedly vast terrorist network gathered around Saddam Hussein, and fear that the weapon would soon be turned against the US and its allies. In 1991, the US had led a broadly based coalition against Iraq to end that nation's occupation of Kuwait. From time to time, the US and other governments issue lists of the states that are the leading sponsors of terrorism.