With all the attention on the ISG now I was interested to read how it started since I didn't notice it at the time.  The Christian Science Monitor starts off:

Rep. Frank Wolf (R) of Virginia has traveled to the most difficult war and civil war zones on the planet - from Chechnya and Bosnia to Sudan and Algeria. He had visited Iraq twice before, both times without a military escort. On his third visit, in September 2005, he had an epiphany.

He was about to tour a maternity ward in Tikrit when armed security guards were called in. Noting the mothers' and nurses' reaction, he recalls, "I said: 'We've got to get out of here. We can't walk through a maternity ward with guns like this scaring people." He concluded then that the US needed "fresh eyes" on its Iraq involvement.

From that small beginning has sprung one of the most-anticipated blue-ribbon commissions in recent years - the Iraq Study Group, which began deliberating over final conclusions this week.

How an obscure panel became a policy touchstone for Republicans and Democrats is a story in itself. More important, it illustrates those rare moments when a crisis reaches such a point that official Washington temporarily loosens hold of the reins. It's in those moments that experienced outside voices - think the 9/11 and Warren commissions - can make themselves heard. The Iraq panel, in particular, may prove particularly influential because of the escalating chaos in Iraq.

It is well worth reading the rest.