American views of the Middle East after 9/11

One of the main themes from McAlister's discussion of the Iranian hostage crisis was how the American media responded by characterizing the situation as an invasion of the private sphere and a violation of the right to keep private and political/public spheres separate. This created a sense of "Americanness" that was apolitical and based on the family.

This same sense of "Americanness" was reignited after 9/11, particularly the sense of violation of the everyday and apolitical aspects of American life. The same pattern of self-representation as a victim was also drawn upon, which forged a sense of solidarity and unity but also isolationism in its victimization for the U.S. McAlister gives examples that while they supporting the sense of victimization, deconstruct the idea that America was isolated as the victim. Support came from traditional western allies, France, Britain, etc..., as well as countries and political entities with either strained or unfavorable ties--seen in the candlelight vigil in Jordan and the comments form Palestine's Hanan Ashrawi. These demonstrations of support coming form the Middle East that were transmitted into U.S. homes through television, however, were complicated by either shows of support for the attack or opinions that avoided outright condemnation of them. The reactions coming out of Middle Eastern countries, ranging from national to individual expressions of opinion, in the wake of 9/11 clearly showed a spectrum that often ignored and later written out of the history. Many media representations followed Huntington's theories stated in "Clash of Civilizations" and characterized the aftermath as a struggle of either U.S. v Middle East or Western v. Middle East.

My question is why, especially when there were clear media example to the contrary, has the Middle East become a singular bloc for many Americans? What does America and do Americans gain in this stereotyped contrast? Is it only a reinforced sense of the "freeness" of America?