I hear your technical points and agree with most of them. However, the success of the T45 bid was also to do with US jobs as well - had the French/Germans offered a single engined bid, I'm pretty sure they would not have been successful either.
On the subject of whether I would sooner have half thrust halfway down the cat-launch? Yes, you bet, as my jet would decelerate slower than with no thrust and I might just avoid being run over by a blooming great carrier as I 'plop' off the end of it!
Still, that's just an opinion, that's all...
The B Word