Hitchens Takes Up Residence on Downing Street

...and, like all right-minded people, concludes there is absolutely nothing there that wasn't already common knowledge, or indeed, already in print (reminding us of the Wolfowitz quote from Vanity Fair). His literary conceit this time around is a comparison with the Da Vinci Code, and Hitchens being the devout atheist he is, he can't resist a dig at the Church. Still, it's Hitch, so you know there will be some high points. My favorite:

I am now forced to wonder: Who is there who does not know that the Bush administration decided after September 2001 to change the balance of power in the region and to enforce the Iraq Liberation Act, passed unanimously by the Senate in 1998, which made it overt American policy to change the government of Iraq? This was a fairly open conspiracy, and an open secret. Given that everyone from Hans Blix to Jacques Chirac believed that Saddam was hiding weapons from inspectors, it made legal sense to advance this case under the banner of international law and to treat Saddam "as if" (and how else?) his strategy of concealment and deception were prima facie proof.