State Files Suit Against Defense Chief Over BRAC Decision

The state of Missouri is suing Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. The lawsuit says the decision to remove the F-15 figher planes from a National Guard Unit in St. Louis is illegal. The suit says the airplanes are under control of the Governor, not under control of Rumsfeld. A similar lawsuit filed last August was dismissed because it was too early to sue. Attorney General Jay Nixon says the suit is proper now that Congress has refused to reject recommendations from the Base Realignment and Closure Commission. With the lawsuit is a letter from Governor Matt Blunt saying nobody from the federal government ever asked his permission to make the change.