To remove Rumsfeld would be a huge political victory for the Dems in a critical election cycle and would occur purely on political grounds motivated only to remove the Bush administration from office.
The resulting effect would be Kerry succeeding as the Commander In Chief - UNNACCEPTABLE solution.
To remove Rumsfeld would be a huge political victory for the Dems in a critical election cycle and would occur purely on political grounds motivated only to remove the Bush administration from office.
It's even more than that. It would set a precedent giving the military a huge load of ammo to fire at any SecDef. Don't like the boss? Send a mission of a few renegade soldiers out to create a scandal and take the boss down. To remove a SecDef over a scandal like this one would result in giving the military way too big a potential club & would be a huge blow to civilian control of the military.