I should preface this by saying I've never read anything of Hitchens and have only occasionally seen him as a guest on something. While I'm an atheist myself he strikes me as just being an unpleasant person.

Consolation, a major component of the point of religion, seems to Mr Hitchens to be better served by actually addressing the harms that influence people's drive to turn to religion rather than merely providing comfort.

This, however, I agree with. Curiously, I was just thinking today of things like people attempting healing through prayer and similar efforts which seem to be entirely the practice of people who simply can't afford medical treatment. I think I probably agree with him about how religious dogma poisons everything though. If you reject the idea of life after death or any kind of hidden controlling interest in your life, you are likely to live it in a very different way than if you believed otherwise. It seems to me religion serves the powerful much more than the powerless.