LONDON -- Recourse to the United Nations could give some reluctant U.S. allies the political cover they need to fall in behind an American war on Iraq, analysts said.

A forceful speech by U.S. Vice-President Dick Cheney this week, arguing that the risks of inaction far outweighed those of action, touched off a world chorus of criticism of U.S. policy.

But governments may hesitate to defy Washington once they are convinced that war is inevitable, said analysts who cited precedents set in other U.S.-led interventions, such as the 1991 Persian Gulf War and the military campaigns in Kosovo and Afghanistan.

"The historical evidence shows that when the U.S. is very determined, the allies follow," said Steven Simon, Deputy head of London's International Institute of Strategic Studies.

"But whether this happens now depends on the extent to which the Europeans feel there has been genuine consultation, whether the (U.S.) administration fleshes out Cheney's argument persuasively enough ... and whether the U.S. decides to seek a new UN Security Council resolution," he told Reuters.

Many European nations, including Washington's closest ally Britain, have signaled that their priority is to get UN weapons inspectors back into Iraq rather than the "regime change" favored by U.S. President George W. Bush.

Cheney said this week that no inspection arrangements could guarantee Iraqi compliance with UN disarmament resolutions.

Many in Bush's administration say no new UN resolution is needed to authorize military action. The wilder hawks advocate a solo war if Arab and European allies remain hesitant or hostile.

"The Americans may very well go it alone -- a lot of them want to, to prove a point," said Dan Plesch, a senior research fellow at London's Royal United Services Institute (RUSI).

--- Arab Pressure on Iraq --- Arab nations are unanimous in publicly opposing a war on Iraq, particularly while the Israeli-Palestinian conflict boils on, but some, such as Egypt and Qatar, have urged Iraq to submit to weapons inspections in a bid to deflect a U.S. assault.

UN inspectors left Iraq before a 1998 U.S.-British bombing blitz. They were trying to ensure Baghdad's compliance with post-Persian Gulf War resolutions banning Iraq's quest for chemical, biological and nuclear weapons and long-range missiles.

Yet U.S. insistence on the downfall of President Saddam Hussein means the Iraqi leader has little incentive to readmit the arms teams. He sees them as U.S.-British spies whose intrusions could provoke a confrontation with the United Nations and provide Washington with a pretext to launch an invasion.

"The Iraqis have concluded that it will not change the U.S. administration's decision whether they cooperate or not," said Mustafa Alani, a London-based Iraqi analyst.

As if to reinforce Saddam's gut instinct, a U.S. official confirmed on Wednesday that this was Washington's stance. "The case for regime change is broader than just WMD (weapons of mass destruction)," the official said at Bush's Texas ranch. "Regime change is the policy of this government."

For European Union governments, however, a clear Iraqi rejection of UN inspections would make it easier to defuse domestic opposition to U.S. military action to topple Saddam.

"The EU should take an initiative towards Baghdad and say very clearly: You swiftly and completely abide by United Nations resolutions or you will remain alone to face your problems," Belgian Foreign Minister Louis Michel was quoted as saying before ahead of Friday's meeting of EU foreign ministers.

"Then Europe will find it very difficult to remain squarely opposed to a preventive strike," Michel added, when asked what would happen if Saddam refused.

--- Bush Urged to Use UN Route --- Even in Washington, some influential voices are calling for the Bush administration to curb its unilateralist impulses and use the United Nations to legitimize any attack on Iraq.

A ***New York Times*** editorial, arguing that the White House still needed to show why Iraq's weapons programs required an American invasion, urged Bush seek a new UN resolution setting a deadline for Iraqi compliance on disarmament and inspection.

"Washington's lack of interest in working with the Security Council is foolish and has needlessly isolated the United States from virtually all its European and Arab allies," it added.

U.S. officials insist that Bush has made no decision to go to war, though RUSI's Plesch noted that a state of war already existed involving U.S. and British warplanes patrolling no-fly zones set up over northern and southern Iraq after the Persian Gulf War.