Cheney Exhorts Europe to Promote Democracy in Mideast

Vice President Dick Cheney on Saturday urged Europe to join the United States in promoting democracy in Iran and the Arab world, saying that form of government can deter terrorism.

“Helping the people of the greater Middle East to overcome the democratic deficit is ultimately key to winning the war on terrorism,” he said in a speech in Davos, Switzerland.

At the same time, Cheney added, “direct threats require decisive action,” and he said the world’s democracies must send an unmistakable message: “The pursuit of weapons of mass destruction only invites isolation and carries great costs.”

The vice president urged European governments to create more deployable armed forces to bolster their own security -- and to assist military and peacekeeping operations in countries such as Afghanistan and Iraq.

Cheney spoke at the annual World Economic Forum, attended by 1,500 political and business leaders from around the globe. He appeared to be using his address to ease transatlantic relations strained by the Iraq war.

But he also seized the opportunity to reiterate the Bush doctrine of preemption, saying that, when all else fails, force must be an option against terrorists and regimes that harbor them.

Cheney made his call for greater international support for democratic reforms as the United States hopes to persuade the United Nations to help with the transfer of power in Iraq.

In his remarks, the vice president evinced no intention of backing away from a central tenet of the case the White House made for going to war in Iraq -- that Saddam Hussein’s regime possessed weapons of mass destruction.

In contrast, David Kay, who led the U.S. hunt for Iraqi weapons until his resignation Friday, said he doubted such stockpiles existed.

In touting democratic reforms, Cheney believes, along with the Bush administration, that many avenues other than war, including diplomacy, could be used to combat terrorism, a senior U.S. official said.

In Davos, Cheney credited “quiet diplomacy” for Libya’s decision last month to abandon its unconventional weapons programs.

“We must confront the ideologies of violence at the source, by promoting democracy throughout the greater Middle East and beyond,” the vice president said. “Democracies do not breed the anger and the radicalism that drag down whole societies or export violence. Terrorists do not find fertile recruiting grounds in societies where young people have the right to guide their own destinies and to choose their own leaders.”

He added, “Our forward strategy for freedom commits us to support those who work and sacrifice for reform across the greater Middle East. We call upon our democratic friends and allies everywhere, and in Europe in particular, to join us in this effort.”

Cheney spoke from the same podium where U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Friday warned against following the “laws of the jungle” in the quest for global security.

With the U.S. military taxed by engagements in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere, Cheney said, the need for Europe to bolster its troop deployment capacity was crucial. He noted that Europe and Canada had 1.4 million troops under arms, just 55,000 of whom were deployed abroad.

During a question-and-answer session after his speech, Cheney was asked whether he considered the United States an empire. His Christmas card, the questioner noted, carried a Benjamin Franklin quote: “If a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid?”

“First of all, that quote was selected by my wife,” Cheney said, to laughter. “She should have to explain why it was on the Christmas card.”

The vice president went on to say that he does not see the United States as an empire.

“If we were to empire, we would currently preside over a much greater piece of the Earth’s surface than we do,” Cheney said. “That’s not the way we operate.”