Wednesday December 5 8:28 AM ET
By Rita Farrell
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The first woman to ever fly a U.S. combat mission sued Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to challenge a policy that mandates Islamic dress and customs for U.S. military women based in Saudi Arabia when they travel off-base.
According to the lawsuit filed by Lt. Col. Martha McSally on Monday, women can be court-martialed if they leave Prince Sultan Air Base without a male chaperone, are not covered from head-to-toe with a dark "abayah'' robe, or sit in the front seat of a vehicle.
"In Saudi Arabia she can pilot a plane but not drive a car,'' said her lawyer, Thomas Neuberger.
In the lawsuit McSally said the Pentagon (news - web sites) regulations, which are imposed only in Saudi Arabia, violate her First Amendment constitutional right to practice her Christian faith freely and to not have a religion imposed on her.
The only requirement the Saudi government imposes is that non-Muslim women visitors dress conservatively.
Judge James Robertson, of the U.S. District Court in Washington where the suit was filed, has been asked to enjoin enforcement of the regulations, to block any disciplinary action against McSally, and to award her legal fees and costs.
After the Gulf War (news - web sites), McSally, 35, was stationed in Kuwait where, in 1995 and 1996, she flew 100 hours of combat missions in an A-10 Warthog jet to enforce the no-fly zone over southern Iraq.
The Texas native has opposed the policy of the 363rd Air Expeditionary Wing since it was adopted in 1995, but has failed to convince Defense Department or Air Force officials to drop it.
"IRRATIONAL'' POLICY
Last year McSally was transferred to Saudi Arabia, where the policy her lawsuit described as "irrational'' and without ''legitimate military ends'' would affect her directly.
On Tuesday, a spokesman for the U.S. Central Command said the regulations were adopted by the U.S. base commander at the time who, like his counterparts at all military sites, made policy in accordance with local "cultural sensitivities.''
"It is an issue of force protection,'' said Navy Commander Ernest Duplessis. "Just after Desert Storm, the local commander decided that (in Saudi Arabia) it was a big issue to provide adequate protection for our forces by having them blend in and not stick out.''
Military officials have asserted that the policy, rather than discriminating against military women, is intended to protect them from harassment by Saudi religious police.
One of McSally's attorneys sees it differently.
"I think it must be the State Department trying to suck up to the Saudis,'' Neuberger told Reuters. "I believe this is a political decision that has been made ... (in a) misguided attempt to seek favor with the Saudi government.''
Osama bin Laden (news - web sites), chief suspect in the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States, has cited the presence of U.S. troops in his native Saudi Arabia, home to holy Islamic shrines in Mecca and Medina, as one reason for waging a holy war against the U.S.
McSally is scheduled to return to the United States on Dec. 15 and is unable to comment publicly while on duty, according to Neuberger, a Delaware-based attorney for the Rutherford Institute, the religious and civil rights organization that is paying McSally's legal costs.