THE CARTOON IS TOO SUBTLE
The patient is clearly marked as "U.S. Army", meaning the whole organization. The cartoon refers to, in the cartoonist's view, crippling cuts in the size of the military in Rumsfeld's reorganizations, the latest of which is a cut in reserves announced Tuesday. The two characters at the bottom then refer to stretching the truncated military back out.
The cartoon is being widely misinterpreted as Rumsfeld showing callousness toward wounded soldiers returning from the war.
Ummm, it's not being misinterpreted as Rumsfeld showing callousness... Tole is showing his callousness by depicting a wounded vet to further his political agenda, no matter what the message may be. He could have easily drawn something else.