And even participating is no hedge against it:

To Some in Europe, the Major Problem Is Bush the Cowboy:
“In Europe, it often seems that it is not only the wisdom of a war against Iraq that lies at the heart of trans-Atlantic differences, but the personal style of George W. Bush himself.” NY Times

Credibility Problem:
Paul Krugman: “The State of the Union address could restore the president’s political fortunes, if he isn’t held accountable for promises made last year.” NY Times op-ed

US to Make Iraq Intelligence Public:

“The Bush administration has assembled what it believes to be significant intelligence showing that Iraq has been actively moving and concealing banned weapons systems and related equipment from United Nations inspectors, according to informed sources.” Washington Post That should be intelligence in quotation marks, it is apparent. Of course, it is lost on no one that (a) the US pulls this cat out of the bag just as it becomes generally acknowledged that support for the war is flagging domestically as well as internationally, and (b) if it knew better than the UN arms inspectors anyway, why would we need inspections? Clearly, this is not going to be a ‘Just War’ as much as a ‘Just Because War’, as somebody put it.

So much for my daily spasm of scorn for Dubya. The man and his dysadministration are so easy to hate, doesn’t it seem, or is it just that my need is so great? [Am I going to get a visit from General Ashcroft’s men for this? FmH] It does seem that they are particularly bad at lying to the American public, so contemptuous of us, doesn’t it?