Iraq War: Trouble with an ally?

I think Juan Cole has a point in this post: Deaths of Americans in Fallujah: In revenge for Sharon's Murder of Sheikh Yassin? 04/02/04:

There is increasing evidence that the brutal attack on the American security guards in Fallujah, and the desecration of their bodies, was the work of Islamists seeking vengeance for the Israeli murder of Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin. Leaflets found at the scene said the operation was in the name of Yassin. al-Hayat reports in its Friday edition that responsibility for the attack has been taken by a group called Phalanges of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin. The group said the deaths were a "gift to the Palestinian people."

To state what should be obvious to everyone by now: there are lots of people in Iraq who already feel plenty of motivation to attack Americans. "Bring 'em on," Bush said.

But it should also be obvious also that because of Jerusalem's special significance in Islam and because of Israel's various wars with Arab nations since 1948, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is an emotional issue in Iraq, and America's enemies have no hesitation in exploiting it. The US is part of the Middle East as long as we're occupying Iraq. What Israel does can have a relatively immediate effect on our soldiers in the field.

In America Unbound (2003), Ivo Daalder and James Lindsay describe the situation in mid-2003, noting that the explosive Israeli-Palestinian problem remained "unchanged in important ways even after Saddam's ouster and Bush's personal engagement in regional diplomacy." Their view of the prospects:

Much would depend on Bush's staying power - on his willingness to spend his political capital to push and cajole the parties, including Sharon, into taking the steps necessary for making progress. Success would require more than riding herd on the leaders; it might well require the deployment of significant American capabilities - from more money to troops - to push the two sides together and end the bloodshed.