The announced purpose of United States Vice-President Dick Cheney's current tour in the region is to consult with allies on ways to bring about stability in war-torn Iraq.
The tour is said to aim at building on the result of the recent Sharm Al Shaikh Iraq conference in which all regional players pledged to support the government of Nouri Al Maliki and US efforts to end the conflict. But those familiar with Middle East issues realise the tour has more to it: Iran could well be Cheney's point of interest right now.
According to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, the US administration is not ruling out the military option to deal with Iran's controversial nuclear dossier.
And prior to every bloody conflict that has taken place in the region, there has always been a Cheney tour. It happened in 1990, during the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and in 2003, shortly before the US invaded Iraq.
US officials claim Cheney wants to urge the allies to support the diplomacy option in Iraq. But to the majority of us, he is here to drum up support for yet another catastrophic conflict. It seems he cannot wait until they sort out the mess in Iraq.
However, most regional leaders have repeatedly said they cannot support any US attack on Iran. They have always called for a diplomatic solution to the crisis in which the United Nations and its atomic energy arm the IAEA play the central role.
The region cannot afford another war. The US must listen to its allies and avoid another fiasco. Cheney will certainly hear this in the four countries he is visiting.
Moreover, he will be told to exert pressure on the US leading ally, Israel, to heed Arab peace calls to resume negotiations, based on the Arab initiative, endorsed again at the Riyadh summit in March.
