Once again, I appreciate your thoughtful post.
I will say that my stance on Israel support has changed over the years. Israel as a nation is "all grown up" now, and I believe US/Israeli ties should be normalized, vs. massive and near automatic U.S. support. Incidents like the USS Liberty, and the transfer of U.S. technology by Israel to China and other countries, has (to say the least) soured me.
I think 90% of the ME/West Asian issues we face today are remnants of the Cold War. In those years, anything and everything was done by the two powers to further their interests, and there was much suffering as a result, including U.S. dead, in conflicts with roots in the Communist vs. Western Block forces at play for so many decades. And of course, we have the remnants of British colonialism that caused so many irrational borders that we see today.
@Cyrus - we know that Iran/US relations are not good. Again (no excuse, just reality) a nation was used as a tool in the Cold War - thus, the Shah. Things went downhill, with Imperial abuses, then the Islamic revolution, hostages, the Vincennes, etc.
I am an active member of Iran Defense. I have posted there many times, I think there is much in common between Iranian people and the average American, and if we can put baggage behind us, and have genuine discourse instead of bombast, great things could happen. Iranians are an industrious people who simply want to go about their lives. I'd definitely like to see relations improve.