"Everyone thought..." Fact is, not even the majority of Republics thought.

[LynnTheDem]

USATODAY.com - Poll: Bush hasn't made case for Iraq war

More than two-thirds of Americans believe the Bush administration has failed to make its case that a war against Iraq is justified
72% of respondents, including 60% of Republicans, said the president has not provided enough evidence to justify starting a war.
-12/16/2002
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2002-12-17-iraq-poll_x.htm

Poll: Support For a War With Iraq Weakens Among Americans

Seven in 10 Americans would give U.N. weapons inspectors months more to pursue their arms search in Iraq, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll that found growing doubts about an attack on Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
http://middleeastinfo.org/article1795.html
-01/22/2003

Republican Dissent on Iraq
Full page ad in Wall Street Journal by major GOP contributors:

"Mr. President, …The candidate we supported in 2000 promised a more humble nation in our dealings with the world. We gave him our votes and our campaign contributions. That candidate was you. We feel betrayed. We want our money back. We want our country back…. A Billion Bitter enemies will rise out of this war."
- Wall Street Journal, January 13, 2003
http://talkleft.com/new_archives/001444.html

TOP REPUBLICANS BREAK WITH BUSH ON IRAQ STRATEGY

Leading Republicans from Congress, the State Department and past administrations have begun to break ranks with President Bush over his administration's high-profile planning for war with Iraq, saying the administration has neither adequately prepared for military action nor made the case that it is needed.
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9901E0DA143DF935A2575BC0A9649C8B63

Yeah we knew bush was lying his ass off. They knew, too.

But they went party uber alles.

They knew.

[Olney Blue]

1. The GOP owns this war. Never let them forget.

[ck4829]

2. K&R

[thunder rising]

3. in 2002 a HotBot search could point that Sadam was not a threat.

Not only was nobody selling him offensive weapons, but nobody was coaching him either.

[babylonsister]

4. That makes McCain's GE strategery even more puzzling:

reviews General Election Strategy: Dems Were Wrong About Iraq

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/02...

McCain Previews General Election Strategy: Dems Were Wrong About Iraq
By Greg Sargent - February 18, 2008, 12:32PM

At a press conference today, presumptive GOP nominee John McCain signaled his general election strategy: Dems were wrong about Iraq; Bush's strategy is "succeeding," the surge worked, if we had done things the Dems' way, Al Qaeda would have succeeded in Iraq...

video at link~

Kicking off your campaign with a message that's at odds with solid majority sentiment that the war wasn't worth fighting doesn't strike us as terribly sound, but perhaps McCain is practicing the Rovian technique of turning your opponents' greatest advantage into a weakness.

It's also worth noting that Obama, perhaps more so than Hillary, can argue that if we'd never invaded in the first place, something McCain aggressively championed, there would never have been any Al Qaeda in Iraq in the first place.