George W. Bush has finally come to terms with the fact that he needs a new secretary of defense. The situation in Iraq is undoubtably the main factor in the thorough thumping at the GOP took in yesterday's midterm elections.

To have kept Mr. Rumsfeld on after the results of yesterday would not only have likely caused further congressional losses in 2008 by default, but would have highly imperiled Republican chances of keeping the White House as well.

Mr. Rumsfeld is an honorable man, and he came to the Pentagon with the honorable goal of making the military into a leaner and meaner fighting machine. That made him lots of enemies, many of who are stepping forward now and using the deteriorating situation in Iraq as an opportunity to pile on the embattled Defense Secretary. But the fact is that Mr. Rumsfeld is a symbol for all that has gone right, and all that has gone wrong in Iraq. A lot has gone wrong since the fall of Saddam Hussein. There is no way that Mr. Rumsfeld could be a part of a credible new strategy, that would bring new energy and a new approach to the situation in Iraq, and more importantly renew the confidence of the American people that the eventual outcome there will justify the effort and the American blood expended.