Christopher Hitchens, in Slate, writes the best account to date about (a) why anyone honest and sensible (which would exclude Joseph Wilson) would have concluded that Iraq tried to get uranium ore from Niger, (b) how forged documents, combined with shoddy reporting, have been used to debunk what is actually a true story, and (c) how much the public case for our efforts in Iraq has been hurt by the Bush administration’s decision to apologize for and retract a statement the President made in the State of the Union address which was not only true but was more than likely an understatement of Iraq’s nefarious intentions. It’s here, and every word is worth mulling. (Hat tip Tom Joscelyn.)