Another good editorial from the WaPo

Trailing fairly closely on the heels of its editorial on the recent court decision against the NSA surveillance program, the Washington Post hits the nail on the head in summing up the Valerie Plame saga. After placing some qualified blame on the Bush administration the article concludes:

Nevertheless, it now appears that the person most responsible for the end of Ms. Plame's CIA career is Mr. Wilson. Mr. Wilson chose to go public with an explosive charge, claiming -- falsely, as it turned out -- that he had debunked reports of Iraqi uranium-shopping in Niger and that his report had circulated to senior administration officials. He ought to have expected that both those officials and journalists such as Mr. Novak would ask why a retired ambassador would have been sent on such a mission and that the answer would point to his wife. He diverted responsibility from himself and his false charges by claiming that President Bush's closest aides had engaged in an illegal conspiracy. It's unfortunate that so many people took him seriously.
(the Washington Post)