Thanks for the clarification.
But would Segwit have activated without the initialization of BIP148, or would the miners have continued blocking it?
I believe "another UASF" would have come.
I think bitmain just wanted time to dump their covert-AB only hardware on a willing sucker (like, say, Calvin).
Regardless, the complaint most people that had complaints had about BIP148 was that the timeline of less than two months was kinda nuts. That issue wouldn't have remained...