U.S. risks backlash in Mideast

Another understatement of the year!

There is a danger that the U.S. will be seen as favoring Israel? Oh, get real. It has been seen in that light for a very long time, and BushCo has made it impossible for anyone with eyes and ears to see it otherwise.

WP: U.S. risks backlash in Mideast - washingtonpost.com Highlights - MSNBC.com:

Increasingly isolated U.S.?

'What the conflict has exposed in a really clear way is how linked all these issues in the region are to each other,' said Mara Rudman, a deputy national security adviser in the Clinton White House now at the liberal Center for American Progress. 'The worst-case scenario . . . is a much more radicalized Islamic fundamentalist Middle East and much more isolated Israel and a much more isolated United States and fewer people to talk with.'

Haass, the former Bush aide who leads the Council on Foreign Relations, laughed at the president's public optimism. 'An opportunity?' Haass said with an incredulous tone. 'Lord, spare me. I don't laugh a lot. That's the funniest thing I've heard in a long time. If this is an opportunity, what's Iraq? A once-in-a-lifetime chance?'

In the long run, he and others warn, the situation could cement the perception that the United States is so pro-Israel that a new generation of Arab youth will grow up perceiving Americans as enemies. The internal pressure on friendly governments in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and elsewhere could force them to distance themselves from Washington or crack down on domestic dissidents to keep power. In either case, Bush may have little leverage to press for democratic reforms.