I don't believe Americans are seeking catharsis, as you put it, but the government may find that the misdirected policy of claiming nations such as Saudi Arabia to be our friends will push the populace in that direction. God help us if there is another terrorist attack while this diplomatic schizophrenia continues. There may be some grand and unseen plan behind it, but the best laid plans have the potential of backfiring.
I also believe Americans are capable of distinguishing between peaceful Islamic states (of which there are too few) and those who, for whatever reason, wish to destroy the Western world. The same goes for the ability to distinguish between the populace and the governments of these states, although I fear most Americans have lost sympathy for the likes of the Palestinians, the majority of whom seem all to have been poisoned from the same well through the joint efforts of our "friends" in the Middle East.