Nerd,

"Even without France's veto, Bush did not have enough votes."

Pure conjecture.

"Even if France had done a 180 and voted FOR it, it would have lost."

Pure conjecture - Your contention begs the question that if France had changed its mind and voted for it, why would the countries France had persuaded to oppose the resolution maintained their stance?

"If France's veto had been the issue Bush would have gone ahead with the vote to show that he had support of a majority of the council and that France was just being difficult."

I disagree, the veto would have stood, and the resolution would not have been passed. Going that route would only have succeeded in prolonging the issue, in effect giving Saddam Hussein more time, it would not have affected the outcome of the situation.