National Guard Wing Closing Now Ripe For Lawsuit

Attorney General Jay Nixon has sued Secretary of Defense Don Rumsfeld to keep Rumsfeld from closing the Missouri National Guard’s 131st Fighter Wing at St. Louis Lambert Airport. Nixon says Rumsfeld has to get the Governor’s permission to do this, which Rumsfeld doesn’t have, and he’s got precendent on his side. Nixon tried to stop the closure earlier this year, but a judge said since it was just a recommendation, the state had not yet been wronged. Nixon says now that the President and Congress have given the defense department the okay to go ahead with the closure, the case is now ripe for a suit.