U.S. Vice-President Dick Cheney has called on Europe to join the United States in promoting democracy in Iran and the Arab world, calling it the key to winning the war against terrorism. Mr. Cheney also urged democratic countries and the United Nations to help Iraq.
Mr. Cheney addressed the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where last year there was widespread opposition to U.S. plans to launch a war in Iraq.
But this year, Mr. Cheney, who is seen in Europe as an architect of that war, reached out to the Europeans and called on them to cooperate with U.S. efforts to encourage democracy in the Middle East.
"We must confront ideologies of violence at the source by promoting democracy throughout the greater Middle East and beyond," Mr. Cheney said.
Mr. Cheney made a pitch for the United Nations and other democracies to join in helping stabilize and rebuild Iraq. He asked other countries to be generous in forgiving Iraq's massive foreign debt.
Mr. Cheney sought to deflect criticism that Washington's strategy in the war against terrorism relies too much on military solutions. But he insisted that if diplomatic efforts are not enough to defeat terrorism and stop the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, America and other nations must be prepared to use force, saying direct threats require decisive action.