Who is supporting terrorism

But quite apart from the political outrage it has generated in Pakistan, the pain it delivers is quite limited. Overall, U. Moreover, Pakistan can seek aid from others: Russia is always looking for opportunities to undercut the United States, and although direct military cooperation with Pakistan risks alienating India—a significant cost for Russia—Russia no longer considers the Afghan Taliban a prime enemy in Afghanistan.

The Islamic State is, so much so that Russia has courted the Afghan Taliban with intelligence and military aid to secure its cooperation against the Islamic State. Pakistan can also seek military assistance from China, long its steadfast ally. Finally, Pakistan can court Saudi aid, which Saudi Arabia may grant, including as an anti-Iran hedge.

Thus, Pakistan can easily believe that it can ride out tensions with the United States. Other forms of U. It could also further encourage Indian activity in Afghanistan. But there are limits to U. Moreover, the United States wants to encourage democratization, pluralization, and stronger civilian and technocratic governance in Pakistan.

Just as there is a young, educated, well-meaning technocratic segment of the population battling it out against the warlords and parochial powerbrokers in Afghanistan, there are such reformist elements in Pakistan.

Thus, in response to U. For example, it can discontinue cooperation on nuclear safety issues or suspend Pakistan-India nuclear confidence-building measures.

It could also provoking border instability in the Punjab. Most immediately, Pakistan can again shut down the Afghanistan-Pakistan border for U. That would significantly hamper U. Thus, it is highly unlikely that even major U. There are three possible, and to some extent interlinked, scenarios under which Pakistan could become motivated to dramatically reduce or altogether cut support for the Taliban and the Haqqani networks, and perhaps even start targeting their networks in Pakistan:.

To some extent, the United States can help induce at least the last scenario by helping Pakistan develop politically-informed, sequential targeting counterterrorism strategies, focused on anti-Pakistani groups of regional and global concern. Former U. But the U. Whenever some progress has been achieved, a terrorist spoiler or an institutional spoiler has effectively undermined the efforts.

Iraq is one of seven countries that have been designated by the Secretary of State as state sponsors of international terrorism. In , the Iraqi Intelligence Service IIS directed and pursued an attempt to assassinate, through the use of a powerful car bomb, former U. President George Bush and the Emir of Kuwait.

Kuwaiti authorities thwarted the terrorist plot and arrested 16 suspects, led by two Iraqi nationals. Iraq shelters terrorist groups including the Mujahedin-e-Khalq Organization MKO , which has used terrorist violence against Iran and in the s was responsible for killing several U.

Iraq shelters several prominent Palestinian terrorist organizations in Baghdad, including the Palestine Liberation Front PLF , which is known for aerial attacks against Israel and is headed by Abu Abbas, who carried out the hijacking of the cruise ship Achille Lauro and murdered U. Iraq shelters the Abu Nidal Organization, an international terrorist organization that has carried out terrorist attacks in twenty countries, killing or injuring almost people.