I would say that there existed an argument against the anti-war position that you are misunderestimating. You were correct in mistrusting the Bush team’s competence and good faith. However, the opposite case was being made by equally or more untrustworthy figures such as Putin, Chirac, and (to a somewhat lesser extent) Schroeder.
In retrospect Bush’s mendacity and inability are overwhelming, but at that point he was yet an untested quantity, and he was supported by Blair, who had a better record. On this basis one might forgive those who gave Bush the benefit of doubt, provided they only did so for a limited amount of time.
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