Rational should always prevail over irrational, it's a bad idea to make rash desperate actions, as this will only lead to more desperation. Wheather or not other parties comprehend the situation fully is no excuse.
I for one worry about what they do know that is kept from us. I have considered that maybe those in the Bush administration are working for the common good and that they are going to war because no other alternative exist. But it has been proven that they are unwilling to look for alternatives to war as they believe that they can gain better control of middle eastern oil and possibly as part of an ambition to control the world. Their greed and self-rightiousness has impaired their judgment in a critical matter. However I am also uncertain as too if all this can be chocked up too poor judgment alone . . .
Plato was killed for instructing his students to question everything. Man's irrational appears to have changed little since then.