>Everything has to be shaped
>around Israeli interests.
I agree with lots of your analysis, but I think you underestimate the degree to which much of the American ruling class sees Israel as a bulwark of "civilization" against the Arab hordes. Israelis are people like us, struggling to subdue an enemy whose irrationality and violence is almost hardwired into their mysterious heads. Israel is like a besieged outcropping of Europe - only with big balls and heavy weaponry - fighting our fight.
Doug