WASHINGTON Ñ The Bush administration is being given conflicting advice on Iraq.

The dispute continues to focus between both the State Department and the Pentagon as well as within other departments on issues that include the future of United Nations and that of the Iraqi opposition.

The argument is being reflected in conflicting advice being given to the White House from the strategic community in New York and Washington. The New York-based Council on Foreign Relations said the smart sanctions should be improved and allow for greater Iraqi purchases.

The Washington Institute for Near East Policy has urged the Bush administration to launch a get-tough policy toward Iraq. In a report authored by Michael Rubin, the institute urged the administration to increase support for the Iraqi opposition.

Pentagon officials are raising the prospect of a renewed conflict with Iraq. They said the U.S. presence in the Gulf is the only element that deters Iraq from attacking its neighbors.

"I would also say in the Arabian Peninsula. Iraq is still a potent force," Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz said in a television interview. "If the United States weren't there, Saddam Hussein could be in Riyad tomorrow ... He's interested in overthrowing his neighbors. He's interested in acquiring weapons of mass destruction."

In Baghdad, Iraq has again challenged the United States and said the Saddam regime is ready for any allied attack. "Final victory against these forces will be realized and America and its allies including Britain, Zionism and their agents the rulers of Kuwait and Saudi Arabia will be defeated," Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan Ramadan said.

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