News Analysis: Cheney´s Mideast trip not necessarily optimistic

Source: Xinhua | 03-17-2008 08:06

WASHINGTON, March 16 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Vice President Richard Cheney kicked off on Sunday his 10-day visit to the Middle East that includes Oman, Saudi Arabia, Israel, the West Bank and Turkey.

Vice President Richard Cheney addresses at Arlington National Cemetery during  Veteran's Day ceremonies in Washington, DC, Nov. 11, 2007.  (Xinhua/Reuters File Photo)

Cheney's Mideast trip occurs some two months after U.S. President George W. Bush visited the region and less than two weeks after Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Cheney is expected to have "discussions with these key partners on issues of mutual interest," the White House said in a statement. Observers here believed that the vice president will be trying through the visit to, among others, push Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, seek support for Iraq on the occasion of 5th anniversary of Iraq war.

SPUR PEACE TALKS

There is a fact that can not be ignored: of all the Mideast countries visited or to be visited by U.S. top decision makers since the beginning this year, both Israel and the Palestinian autonomous region feature their successive visits.

Like what Bush and Rice did in their visits to the region to promote installed peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, the latest visit by Cheney is apparently to renew the Bush administration's effort to shore up talks between Israel and the Palestinians.

Cheney's visit to Israel and the West Bank is to "reassure people that the United States is committed to a vision of peace in the Middle East," and to seek assurances that "relevant parties ...uphold their obligations under the road map," Bush told reporters days before Cheney's departure for the Middle East.

However, it is not at all optimistic for the public to expect any important progress in this field as Cheney began his Mideast tour amid increasing conflicts between Israel and the Palestinians.

"The mood has deteriorated incredibly in the last six weeks since the president was there," said Jon Alterman, director of the Middle East program at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.

"From the outside it's very hard to see that Secretary Rice was able to even arrest the slide let alone get things moving forward. My guess is the vice president will be able to arrest the slide if not necessarily put things on track," local media quoted the Mideast expert as saying.