I’VE BEEN WONDERING why everybody makes a big deal about the ISG report leak — it seems as if it stands for more or less the current plan. The Mudville Gazette seems to see things the same way, describing it as a “360 degree about face,” which seems about right.

No big surprise — it’s not like the ISG is made up of a bunch of guys who’ve spent their lives thinking outside the box. And the Mudville Gazette notes that the Security Council has just renewed the mandate for the international force in Iraq, at the request of the Iraqi government. So this seems to be much ado about nothing, as a “cut and run” doesn’t seem imminent, but there’s no real sign of a “new direction” either. And now that the Security Council has acted, wouldn’t it be, ahem, unilateral of us to pull out?

UPDATE: Another take: “Reading the Washington Post, doesn’t it sound a bit like they’re going to just re-serve current policy?”

Stay the course! Or as Greyhawk puts it in the comments: “We are going to end up going in a ‘new direction’ that is the same direction we were going in before, except it will be new. Hope this clarifies.”