I don't know if I agree here, Apple's not worrying about how anything 'looks' as far as attacking another American company in this economy. Money is all that matters to a corporation of their size. Everyone here is in agreement, Android is the real target here. Last I checked Google is as American as they come. No matter how they've staged this to look, they are attacking Google/Android.
Someone else here made a post a few back that basically said they're trying to stop manufactures from supporting Android, which makes more sense, they're trying to make an example of whats to come if a manufacturer starts supporting an Open Source Archictecture on their devices, by picking on the smallest of the group that is currently producing Android phones.
I believe in my heart, Motorola was on that whiteboard, they just said "Hey, HTC is more likely to cave first which will cost us less."
I'm not calling you wrong, I just disagree, in my opinion, if Apple had to choose between image and livelyhood, image will lose every time, it's about preserving the dominance of their corporation. It's about money.