Joe Wilson speaks out

In the L.A. Times, under the headline "Our 27 months of hell". I recommend the whole piece, but here's the gist of it:

The attacks on Valerie and me were upsetting, disruptive and vicious. They amounted to character assassination. Senior administration officials used the power of the White House to make our lives hell for the last 27 months.

But more important, they did it as part of a clear effort to cover up the lies and disinformation used to justify the invasion of Iraq. That is the ultimate crime.

Yes, I believe it is -- and I say that, as some of you know, as someone who supported the war in part on the basis of those "lies" and that "disinformation". (Although I'm still happy Saddam's gone.)

Those who committed both the crime of outing Valerie Plame and "the ultimate crime" of lying about Iraq need to pay. What they did to Wilson and Plame was indeed "payback". Now it's time for them to get their own.

And that means more than just Irving Lewis Libby (a.k.a., Scooter).