With all that appears to be coming out of Italy today about the origins of the Niger forgeries and efforts to get them directly to the White House by bypassing the CIA, don't forget that the White House in concert with Sen. Roberts (R-KS) went to great lengths last year to delay and eventually to prevent CBS from running a story which would have revealed many of these details.

To understand the key significance of the date (Sept. 9th, 2002) of the secret meeting between SISMI Chief Niccolo Pollari and then-Deputy National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley, review this post from October 31st, 2003. This happened in the thick of the White House's efforts to get the Niger claims before the public, despite CIA warnings that the charges were bogus.

Also don't miss Laura Rozen's piece in the Prospect which provides additional details and context about today's revelations.