Those calling for Secretary Rumsfeld to resign are merely asking that historical precedent be followed, e.g. the resignation of Secretary of War Stimson for failure to prevent Pearl Harbor; the resignation of Defense Secretary George C. Marshall for the prison riots at Koje Do Island during the Korean War; the resignation of whiz kid SECDEF Robert McNamara over the Bay of Pigs; the resignation of William Perry over the "Desert One" (aborted Iran hostage rescue) incident. Of course, none of the above resignations actually occurred.
Now, it is true that Les Aspin resigned presumably over the "Blackhawk Down" incident in Somalia, but anyone who thinks that this was a new precedent or paradigm for how a SECDEF should behave need only consider that his successor, Mr. Cohen, did not see fit to resign over the USS Cole, or the Sudanese Aspirin factory bombing or the attack on the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade.
Yeah, like Janet Reno resigned over Waco. Oh wait.........