This puts a new spin on Rumsfeld's exit.

The situation in Iraq has been evolving, and U.S. forces have adjusted, over time, from major combat operations to counterterrorism, to counterinsurgency, to dealing with death squads and sectarian violence.

In my view it is time for a major adjustment. Clearly, what US forces are currently doing in Iraq is not working well enough or fast enough.

You have to think about who is leaking the memo and what their objectives might be, though it certainly gives the appearance that he was dropped for disloyalty ... and perhaps a perceived unwillingness to "stay the course."

Not that this memo was actually a trigger for Bush; he was already interviewing Gates and had possibly made his decision. But it makes clear that a critical eye on Iraq was quite unwelcome.

The ideas collected here are not especially original; one gets the impression that the memo was drafted after a Pentagon skull session, based on an hour or so of brainstorming and a Lexis-Nexis search.

You'll even find some variations on Gary Brecher's ideas in the list:

Provide money to key political and religious leaders (as Saddam Hussein did), to get them to help us get through this difficult period.

Rumsfeld’s Memo of Options for Iraq War