Flexibiliy was supposed to be a hallmark of Rumsfeld's new military, but it seems his own personal inflexibility is what doomed him.
I'll always admire him, and curse his critics more than I'd ever curse him, but as one of the primary architects of the badly mismanaged War in Iraq, it's fitting he should walk the plank.
Less boots are the future. Fat, lazy soft Americans are not going to accept a draft of their little kids. The age demographics of potential labor supply for the military is declining. We are going to have to pay and pay more for a professional military. Right now we are living off gooey sentiment. Trust me, with out a draft, we'll be paying PFC's a 50k/yr. So Rummy trying, thinking ahead to the days when this American doesn't serve and doesn't have the money, was ahead of the curve. If it is between old folks, government unions, farmers and everyone else's who's snout in buried in the public trough, soldiers are going to lose.
I don't like it, but that's the trendline in America. Rummy was just dealing with reality.