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If Bush had asked for a declaration of war in late 2002 or early 2003, it might have been pretty messy...the 'Rats who could claim that by authorizing use of force they were just giving Bush leverage to pressure Saddam would have been forced to take an open position, and with Bush saying that the danger was not "imminent" it's not clear to me that he would have had a majority in favor of an open declaration of war.

Lincoln pretended that he was just putting down a rebellion, as if the Confederacy was just the Whiskey Rebellion on a larger scale.

a declaration of war in late 2002 or early 2003,

The US military stood well back during last week's elections. If the US military can stand well back all the time from now on and not be particularly noticed, they can begin to draw down the forces. Those who are beginning to urge redeployment or withdrawal at this point are just jumping on the bandwagon, looks like.

Lincoln did not expect the 'rebellion' to go on long at all nor did he want a fight to the death. Few expected it to scale up and go on and on. Surprise at early results and indecision at the top on both sides contributed.