Reports say the vice president will be addressing three dossiers on his trip to the region next week; each of vital importance to the security and the economy of the United States and its allies in Europe and the Middle East. Individually, each item comes laden with its share of complications; combined they represent a job of Herculean proportions.
First, Cheney will have to convince the Palestinians and Israelis to return to the negotiating table. Talks between the two sides have been sidetracked by the violence in the Gaza Strip and the shelling of Israeli border localities by Hamas gunmen. Adding to the complexity of the situation was the announcement Sunday by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert authorizing the expansion of the Jewish settlement of Givat Ze'ev near Jerusalem by 750 housing units. Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat described the decision to expand the settlement as "a slap across the face."
The visit by the vice president to the region comes on the heels of a visit by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice who traveled to Israel and the Palestinian Territories after Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority said he would boycott peace talks with Israel. Abbas made the decision after Israel pounded Palestinian positions in the Gaza Strip, attacks which came as retaliation for the shelling of Israeli cities and towns by Hamas gunmen.
Bush decided to send his vice president to the region as the violence between Gaza and Israel risked spreading. A report by Israeli intelligence services delivered Sunday to the cabinet warned that an escalation of the Gaza front could risk igniting the northern front, with Hezbollah jumping into the fray.
"His goal is to reassure people that the United States is committed to a vision of peace in the Middle East, that we expect relevant parties to uphold their obligations on the road map," Bush said of the vice president's emergency road trip to bring the negotiators back to the road map.
The vice president's second task will be raised with Saudi King Abdullah during a scheduled meeting after Cheney's stop in the Holy Land. The price of oil is expected to be the topic of the day with the United States hoping to convince Saudi Arabia, one of the leading producers of oil, to increase production in hopes of lowering the price of the pump, which now stands well over $3.25 a gallon. And this is at the lower end. In California for example, were gas is typically priced higher, the gallon sells for $3.60 and higher.
A previous attempt by the president to talk the Saudis into lowering the price by increasing production produced no results.
And finally, the vice president is expected to pursue efforts to rally Arab support against Iran, a point also raised by the U.S. president during his trip to the region last year. That too produced no results. Will Cheney prove to be more convincing than Bush? Stay tuned.