What's more, it goes without saying that Israel's behavior undermines Washington's ability to obtain favorable treatment from Pakistan and other states in the area (which, in the case of Pakistan, is absolutely essential to the succesful prosecution of Washington's aims in rooting out Osama bin Laden), to the extent that the U.S. is perceived by those states as being associated with Israel.
The brutality of the terrorist attack and the resultant, almost unprecedented "closing ranks" amongst many states that have otherwise been thought of as beligerents and foes would seem to place Israel in an odd position of isolation, given that their behavior is widely seen as working against these forces, and not least the specific aims of the United States - at a time when the U.S., the hegemon, can least afford it. One has only to examine the delicate give-and-take, the respectful spoken words, between the Pakistanis and Colin Powell to see what's at stake.
So is it remotely possible that this whole incident could see a diminishing of Israel's stature in the eyes of the U.S. government and other western states, perhaps even giving the Israel dissenters within those governments a long-awaited foot-in-the-door toward a more realistic and humanitarian stance vis-a-vis the Palestinians?
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/ dave /