SHARM EL-SHEIK, Egypt (AP) - Vice President Dick Cheney 
told a group of American troops stationed in Egypt on Wednesday that fighting by their comrades in Afghanistan was only the beginning of a long and unrelenting war against terrorism.
But Cheney's efforts to drum up support for a wider offensive against terrorism was overshadowed by spiraling violence in the Mideast.
"This region is both the site of many conflicts and one of the critical centers of American interest - economic, military and political," Cheney said. "Our country is engaged in the Middle East as a fore for stability and long-term peace."
The vice president talked to a group of Americans who are serving in a multinational force on the Sinai Peninsula created to help enforce the 1979 peace agreement between Egypt and Israel. About 865 Americans are part of the 1,800-member, 11-nation force. With patrol boats moving back and forth in the Red Sea behind him, Cheney told the U.S. troops: "We are in a struggle for the freedom and security of the American people and the defense of the civilized world. This war will end when we and our allies have delivered justice - in full measure - and no terrorist group or government can threaten the peace of the world." The peacekeeping force includes a National Guard unit from Arkansas, one of the first Guard units President Bush called into service after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. "Afghanistan is only the beginning of a long and unrelenting effort," Cheney said. "The success of liberty and the future of the civilized world depend on us." Cheney was in the region to meet with Middle Eastern leaders on the next phase in the war on terror, but at his first two stops - Jordan on Tuesday and Egypt on Wednesday - the increasing Israeli-Palestinian violence was the topic that dominated his talks with Arab leaders pressing for more U.S. involvement to end Israeli-Palestinian violence and a lower U.S. profile in challenging Iraq. He was meeting later Wednesday with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak Although he got a cordial welcome from Abdullah on his first stop, he was also told that expanding the terrorism war to Iraq could destabilize the region - and undermine gains in Afghanistan. During a private meeting with Cheney, Abdullah "expressed hope for a solution to all outstanding problems with Iraq through dialogue and peaceful means," said a palace statement. It also said Abdullah voiced "Jordan's concern from the repercussions of any possible strike on Iraq and the dangers of that on the stability and security of the region." Mubarak's view, conveyed during the Egyptian leader's trip this month to Washington, is that U.S. stock in the Arab world - already damaged by the Bush administration's strong support for Israel - would sink further if Iraqis are killed in a U.S. attack. Both Mubarak and Abdullah are key U.S. allies. In Jordan on Tuesday, Cheney said: "Here and throughout this journey, I expect frank discussions on the urgent matters facing this region and all of the civilized world." During the meeting with Abdullah, Cheney stressed the importance of having U.N. weapons inspectors return to Iraq, and said that the inspection regime must be "wide open, robust, anywhere, everywhere, all the time, anytime," said Cheney spokeswoman Jennifer Millerwise. She also said that the king and Cheney agreed that a "maximum effort" must be made to get Palestinians and Israelis back to the negotiating table. As Cheney travels through the region at a time of extreme turmoil, U.S. officials are playing down the Iraq angle publicly. But, privately, they suggest the condemnation from Arab leaders of U.S. hints that it may act to topple Saddam Hussein are largely for domestic consumption. They hope that Arab leaders, while not expected to join in any military action against Iraq, would at least quietly acquiesce. Arab leaders, in turn, are emphasizing the spiraling Israeli-Palestinian violence. "The American role is essential to ... end the cycle of violence and pave the way for putting the peace process back on the right track," the Jordanian palace statement Tuesday night said. It said the king reviewed with Cheney the "tense situation in the Palestinian territories." Abdullah expressed hope that U.S. envoy Anthony Zinni's efforts in the region "succeed in salvaging the situation and enforcing a cease-fire." Zinni, sent back to the region by Bush, will meet with Cheney on Thursday in Israel. "As President Bush made clear last week, the United States will do all it can to help end the tragic violence between the Palestinians and the Israelis, and return the parties to a productive negotiating process," Cheney said in arrival remarks in Jordan. The United States denies any linkage between the Iraq issue and the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. But a deepening of the violence would make it even harder for Cheney to win support for a tougher stand on Iraq. Similarly, any progress in the peace process might make Arab leaders more open to U.S. overtures on Iraq - or at least less openly critical. Cheney is visiting nine Arab Gulf states on this trip, as well as Israel and Turkey. Copyright © 2002 Associated Press. All rights reserved. who, like Jordan's King Abdullah II, has signaled opposition to any U.S.-led effort to remove Saddam Hussein as Iraq's president.