I like this piece by Phillip Carter in Slate, which points out that of all the military people interviewed by the Iraq Study Group, none were below the rank of lieutenant colonel.

For all of the time they spent learning about America’s war in Iraq, the Iraq Study Group failed to study the war at its most critical level: that of the grunts.

Carter then goes on to suggest why that matters.

Is this because the panel itself was composed of Washington wise men who, when they seek wisdom, reflexively turn to people they consider their sociological counterparts? The average age of the members of the Iraq Study Group is 74….