BTW I think you misread the ruling
What you described was the failure of the Telegraph's defense of libel.
From the Telegraph's account:
It has never been the Daily Telegraph's case to suggest that the allegations contained in the documents are true.
These documents were published by us because their contents raised very important questions at a crucial stage of the war against Iraq.
The Daily Telegraph did not and could not perform a detailed investigation into their contents. Newspapers have neither the power nor the resources to carry out such an investigation in a war-torn country.
oopsie.