Leaving aside the issue of how awesome Americans thought the war was before the bombs started dropping - not quite so much - I'll let Chris Matthews tell us about his opposition to the war:
MATTHEWS: No you're -- no, no, no -- Don -- Don -- Don -- you can check everything, get your Nexis-Lexis out, get your Google out, get your -- every column I've written from the day they started talking about Iraq has been against it. Now you're chuckling, 'cause you know damn well you pulled my chain here. I have been a voice out there against this bullshit war from the beginning.
Chris Matthews once had two platforms. He had a cable show, and a column for the San Francisco Chronicle. His final column for that paper was printed on September 1, 2002, long before the Iraq war started. In it, he was indeed against the war.
I hate this war that's coming in Iraq. I don't think we'll be proud of it. Oppose this war because it will create a millennium of hatred and the suicidal terrorism that comes with it.
However, that viewpoint was missing from his cable show. He saw what happened to Phil, after all.