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Not without my daughters (and son)

By see-dubya  •  July 26, 2008 08:21 AM

Patrick Poole’s summary of the tragic case of Ashraf Al-Jailani and his three children, whom he refuses to return to their mother’s custody, makes for very uncomfortable reading. Actually, “tragic” isn’t the right word–so many of the actors have acted with either malice, complacency, cowardice, or naivety that the story reads like an infuriating farce. I’ve ended up feeling sympathy only for the three children who are being used as political pawns in this international fustercluck.

Al-Jailani was deported to Yemen in 2004. He was accused of domestic abuse in the home, and the children were taken out of the home. With the support of CAIR, al-Jailani’s wife pressed to have the children returned to her, and won. She took them on vacation to see their father in Yemen, and he decided (and was supported by Yemeni law) to keep them there and send his wife back to Ohio alone.

I certainly don’t feel any sympathy for the motley collection of far-left interest groups who made al-Jailani a poster boy for their anti-deportation crusade, and found themselves betrayed by Al-Jailani. Like the Gitmo lawyers who find themselves tapdancing around the fact that so many of their poor, misunderstood little lambs get sprung from US custody and return to the battlefield, I’ve long stopped giving these groups credit for noble intentions or good judgment.

I feel a great smoldering contempt for the Portage County, Ohio child welfare authorities who had recognized that Al-Jailani was an abuser, his wife was an enabler, and that the children needed to be removed from that environment. Under pressure from CAIR and their allies (as well as Al-Jailani’s wife), and threats of being branded Islamophobic, they knuckled under and overrode the assessment of the case worker who recognized the problem.

And though her position is a terrible one, Al-Jailani’s wife Michelle Swensen comes off like a naive and useless fool. She was a victim of abuse at his hands and was warned by the case worker that the children could be detained in Yemen, but she chose to stand by her violent, terror-linked man. Not only did she fight the county and allow herself to be used as a political prop by the anti-American Left, she naively ignored the county’s warnings and lost her children as a result.

Read it, and weep, and be sure to note this detail about the movement to fight Al-Jailani’s deportation:

Amazingly, it was those allegations of his connections to al-Qaeda that his supporters used to oppose his deportation, claiming that he would be tortured for his terrorist connections if he were returned to his native Yemen. Today Ashraf Al-Jailani is now a high-ranking Yemeni government official in the Ministry of Oil and Minerals — a previously unknown form of torture.

Wow, I never saw that one coming. I’ll bet Yemen-blogger Jane Novak is shocked, too.

More on the Al-Jailani children here.

_______________________

{Post by See-Dubya. I talked about another of Patrick Poole’s investigations here.}

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  1. #1
    On July 26th, 2008 at 9:11 am, beenthere said:

    Against stupidity the gods themselves war in vain. But against PC stupidity, even the gods say “Fick ut!” and move on.

    It’s not that the citizens of this country, from Bush on down, cannot learn. It’s that they absolutely and adamently refuse to do so.

    Welcome to the 21st century’s answer to Carthage. Man, is this country going to get it bad in the coming years.

  2. #2
    On July 26th, 2008 at 9:17 am, rambler said:

    Why does any woman chose this religion where women are nothing and children are even less. Now these children will have a 3rd abuser - Yemen.

  3. #3
    On July 26th, 2008 at 9:23 am, ArizonaNeanderthal said:

    She took them on vacation to see their father in Yemen, and he decided (and was supported by Yemeni law) to keep them there and send his wife back to Ohio alone.

    If it is indeed Yemeni law then I doubt we can do much and who would we return them too, al-Jailani’s wife? That fool needs to be deported.

    But the bigger issue is indeed the child welfare offials who allowed this. PC gone mad–again. To put these three children in harms way is NOT what we expect. The far-left interest groups, CAIR and allied jihadist will have to be dealt with eventually as part of our war with mohammedism/terrorism.

    In the meantime the voters of Portage County, Ohio need to take action.

    Upsetting story to be sure.

  4. #4
    On July 26th, 2008 at 9:44 am, Marshall Russ said:

    Unfortunately there is no stupid test for people wanting to be parents.
    Mom made a big mistake getting within 5,000 miles of Yemen and the father. If you can call him that.

  5. #5
    On July 26th, 2008 at 9:46 am, swmbo said:

    What kind of action can or should the county in Ohio take.

    Sad story but it has the expected ending. Mom was stupid to take them off of American soil and out of U.S. protection.

  6. #6
    On July 26th, 2008 at 9:47 am, Rational Thought said:

    What am I missing here? This woman was essentially warned ahead of time, “Hey, your wife-beating terrorist husband can keep your children if you take them to Yemen.” She went anyway. And now I’m supposed to weep for her? Sorry, no sale.

  7. #7
    On July 26th, 2008 at 9:52 am, Bhishma said:

    On July 26th, 2008 at 9:11 am, beenthere said:
    It’s not that the citizens of this country, from Bush on down, cannot learn. It’s that they absolutely and adamently refuse to do so.

    Americans are suckers to elect and then, not impeach a wahhabbi tool to office, twice. Look at Bush’s recor, his complete lack of ability and integrity and one wonders how did he get elected to the white house. The answers are clear:
    - Wealth (daddy Bush & Saudi Arabia).
    Even before being elected, Bush was a wahhabbi tool and as his record proves, he has worked only to support terrorist countries through his phony war-on-terror, at the cost of American money and blood.
    Americans are suckers to elect such a corrupt and a timid president/commander-in-chief, who has sold them to anyone with a peso or a petro-dollar, at every chance he got.
    Even now, Americans can salvage some of the lost dignity by supporting impeachment of Bush:
    To learn more about the National Impeachment Network visit http://www.nationalimpeachment.org or send email to: ningroup@gmail.com

  8. #8
    On July 26th, 2008 at 9:52 am, ajmontana said:

    Marshall russ,
    yup, yup, and double yup. bonehead move to say the least.

  9. #9
    On July 26th, 2008 at 9:52 am, heroyalwhyness said:

    The mother apparently sought aid from CAIR implying she is also muslim.

    She maintains the belief, so she must abide by the painful consequences of such belief. The children are hers as well, so the consequence is theirs as well. No sympathy here.

  10. #10
    On July 26th, 2008 at 9:56 am, meatpieandtatters said:

    The fish, and country, both rot from the head first.

  11. #11
    On July 26th, 2008 at 10:02 am, Bhishma said:

    Good riddance! Hope the terrorist wife Michelle Swensen never returns to USA and USA can breath a sigh of relief rrom one terror family.
    Again, good riddance!

  12. #12
    On July 26th, 2008 at 10:05 am, Mrs. Happy Housewife said:

    Stupidity is on the rise and I daily see the movie Idiocracy as prophetic.

  13. #13
    On July 26th, 2008 at 10:14 am, englishqueen01 said:

    I would never take my children to an Islamic country and I would never marry a Muslim.

    It will be interesting to see how the multiculturalists and “coexist” folk try to explain this away.

    Oh - FWIW - Fox News is running a special on honor killings in America. The UN says there are 5,000/year (yeah - I’m betting that’s 10% of the real number, too) and that they’re on the rise in America.

    But let’s turn a blind eye. Perhaps when American women are forced to wear burquas, we’ll wake up. Then, of course, it’ll be too late.

  14. #14
    On July 26th, 2008 at 10:24 am, Dandapani said:

    Explain to me AGAIN, we we bring these people into our country by the DROVES??? Columbus, Ohio is a hot bed of Yemen and Somali “immigrants”? Drive down a certain East-West major road and you are transported to a 3rd world country. You would never believe you were in the USA.

  15. #15
    On July 26th, 2008 at 10:25 am, Dandapani said:

    “Explain to me AGAIN, *why* we…”

  16. #16
    On July 26th, 2008 at 10:27 am, ZoneDaiatlas said:

    On July 26th, 2008 at 9:44 am, Marshall Russ said:
    Unfortunately there is no stupid test for people wanting to be parents.
    Mom made a big mistake getting within 5,000 miles of Yemen and the father. If you can call him that.

    It doesn’t matter if she’s out of the country with her kinds in Yemen or in the US. The A@@hole Terrorist Father can take his kids from the US back to Yemen and there isn’t a damn thing we can do about it.

    What kind of action can or should the county in Ohio take.

    Sad story but it has the expected ending. Mom was stupid to take them off of American soil and out of U.S. protection.

    Nothing, Not a damn thing we or the US State Department can do…

    That’s why I’ve been telling my female friends not to work in the Middle East or marry a Muslim men.

  17. #17
    On July 26th, 2008 at 10:30 am, zorro said:
    Many prominent Ohio newspapers, particularly the Akron Beacon Journal, published scathing editorials decrying his treatment at the hands of the U.S. government.

    So the three children served as the sacrificial lambs offered up at the alter Political Correctness by the “I hate America” liberal democrap left. Disgusting.

  18. #18
    On July 26th, 2008 at 10:32 am, yak_rider said:

    And though her position is a terrible one, Al-Jailani’s wife Michelle Swensen comes off like a naive and useless fool. She was a victim of abuse at his hands and was warned by the case worker that the children could be detained in Yemen, but she chose to stand by her violent, terror-linked man.

    The woman is obviously a cretin. The odds of her ever seeing them again are just about zilch. Islamic countries pay no attention to diplomatic agreements involving parental abductions unless it’s to get their kids back from the USA. Our State Department is more than useless in these matters.

  19. #19
    On July 26th, 2008 at 10:35 am, Rob said:

    Mom was stupid to take them off of American soil and out of U.S. protection.

    Michele SWENSON was STUPID to marry Ashraf AL-JAILANI in the first place! Women who make the brilliant decision to marry outside their culture, waaaay outside in this case, are only looking for trouble down the road… stupid decisions lead to bad consequences, and unfortunately the children often pay and grow up screwed up.

    Of course, the American government should be doing a much better job controlling our borders and keeping out cockroaches… but we just keep on letting everybody and every culture in. They are god’s children, after all.

  20. #20
    On July 26th, 2008 at 10:39 am, Sergeant Tim said:

    The situation will not change, he is not going to hand the kids over to her, and no one is going to force him to.

    I cannot believe she did not know sharia law (in Yemen) was on his side. Why did she risk losing her kids by taking them there? Perhaps that blames the victim but I think the lady was a fool.

  21. #21
    On July 26th, 2008 at 10:41 am, swmbo said:

    My question was actually why should the county of Ohio take any action. I see no reason to waste money or time on the issue. Islam has spoken.

  22. #22
    On July 26th, 2008 at 10:45 am, rambler said:

    Remember - these kids will still have American passports.

  23. #23
    On July 26th, 2008 at 10:52 am, JDinTX said:

    Sorry, but no sympathy here for anyone. The father shouldn’t have been here in the first place and the mother knew what she was getting into when she married him. This was not the first time this has happened to kids born to a Muslim father. Obviously Child Welfare messed up by allowing her to have custody of the kids, but she was stupid enough to go. It is time to completely seal the borders.

  24. #24
    On July 26th, 2008 at 11:15 am, 2manybooks2littletime said:

    She took them on vacation to see their father in Yemen, and he decided (and was supported by Yemeni law) to keep them there and send his wife back to Ohio alone.

    Did she not see the movie you refer to Not Without My Daughter?! Taking them to Yemen was the stupidest thing she ever did.

    If the U.S. can get those kids back, they should most def. NOT go back to their mother~she’s an idiot.

    Sorry, I’m not usually that blunt, but wow, I cannot believe she took them out there. She does not deserve those children.

    The kids are the only ones I feel sorry for and I hope they get back to the U.S. (just NOT with their mother!).

  25. #25
    On July 26th, 2008 at 11:33 am, simcoe said:

    Yep, the concerns of Islam; always loving, peaceful, family-oriented.

    People come to America and then refuse to assimilate but expect the government to protect them from all the crazy ideas they bring with them. There ought to be a Federal Office Of Stupidity to protect Muslims from themselves.

    (Hey, that’s an idea the Socialist-Dems might grab a hold of. Anything to control the masses.).

  26. #26
    On July 26th, 2008 at 11:33 am, Hannibal said:

    #7 Bhishma wrote:

    “…Even now, Americans can salvage some of the lost dignity by supporting impeachment of Bush:”…

    Golly gee whiz, is that really you Denny ( the rabid rabbit) Kucinich?

  27. #27
    On July 26th, 2008 at 11:43 am, swmbo said:

    Maybe an appeal to the BARAKADOODLEDOO !!
    He seems to think he can heal anything since he has become the self proclaimed world leader. Maybe a man to man talk with the MUSLIM father.

  28. #28
    On July 26th, 2008 at 11:58 am, Rob said:

    “…Even now, Americans can salvage some of the lost dignity by supporting impeachment of Bush:”…

    You can’t impeach Bush now. Impeach him too soon and he won’t have a chance to drop a few on Iran.

    After McAmnesty is president, I don’t care what you do with the fool Bush because I will be too busy worrying about the flood of Mexicans coming into McAmnesty’s Meximerica…

  29. #29
    On July 26th, 2008 at 12:05 pm, lonewolf said:

    #7 Bhishma, are you challenging LGM for absurdity troll supremacy?

  30. #30
    On July 26th, 2008 at 12:09 pm, ajmontana said:

    #7 Bhishma wrote:

    “…Even now, Americans can salvage some of the lost dignity by supporting impeachment of Bush:”…

    Why dont you save your whinny BDS and go after the real culprits of congress,state,county, city and all local officials who are screwing up this country.

  31. #31
    On July 26th, 2008 at 12:49 pm, robhic said:

    …and threats of being branded Islamophobic…

    Is that such a bad thing? I mean, really, c’mon. So what? Better to be branded “Islamophobic” than tolerate all the negatives we get for bending over backwards to appease them.

    The good have to suffer for the bad in some cases. Here, I’d think the ratio would be infinitesimal.

  32. #32
    On July 26th, 2008 at 1:08 pm, Blind_Mule said:

    I’ve long stopped giving these groups credit for noble intentions or good judgment.

    Me too, a long, long, time ago.

    Not only did she fight the county and allow herself to be used as a political prop by the anti-American Left, she naively ignored the county’s warnings and lost her children as a result.

    Stupidity breeds mor stupidity. This women is a moron.

    Bhishma wrote:

    “…Even now, Americans can salvage some of the lost dignity by supporting impeachment of Bush:”…

    I think you’ve been standing in the airport handing out leaflets to long, your kurta/kurti is apparently to tight in the neck and cutting off the circulation of blood to your brain.

  33. #33
    On July 26th, 2008 at 1:09 pm, Blind_Mule said:

    more

  34. #34
    On July 26th, 2008 at 1:30 pm, graysonret said:

    Sometimes, I wish we had a real “IMF” team, instead of Peter Graves, Barbara Bain and Martin Landau.

  35. #35
    On July 26th, 2008 at 1:52 pm, txvet2 said:

    On July 26th, 2008 at 9:17 am, rambler said:

    Why does any woman chose this religion where women are nothing and children are even less.

    I think you’d find in the vast majority of cases that they are women who are considered unattractive in Western culture, but quite the opposite in Arabic/Middle Eastern culture - generally, very overweight. Having been denied male attention previously, they are very susceptible to romantic advances from men who, especially when living in this country, don’t seem all that different. It’s after the marriage that the real cultural differences become apparent. Still, they consider even an abusive relationship better than none at all.

  36. #36
    On July 26th, 2008 at 2:07 pm, Rob said:

    I think you’d find in the vast majority of cases that they are women who are considered unattractive in Western culture, but quite the opposite in Arabic/Middle Eastern culture - generally, very overweight. Having been denied male attention previously, they are very susceptible to romantic advances from men who, especially when living in this country

    Oh, I think you could say that is the same for a culture in this country too.. with much the same results.

  37. #37
    On July 26th, 2008 at 2:11 pm, Bachbone said:

    This phenomenon is not strictly due to Islamic men marrying American women. I know of two instances where American women married Greek men, and almost the same circumstances occurred. The big difference was that Greek law eventually, after many months of anguished and very costly legal wranglings, came down on the side of the women. But the fathers still have visitation rights, too. They just can’t arbitrarily take the kids and refuse to give them back.

    By the way, these women are not at all considered “unattractive” in Westrn culture. They look quite different from the average Greek woman, which is perhaps what drew the Greek men to them originally. But anyone, woman or man, American or any other nationality, should think long and hard before marrying outside their culture. You can’t even begin to imagine the little things that crop up after months and years together. I speak from experience, having married a Filipina.

  38. #38
    On July 26th, 2008 at 2:45 pm, nuss said:

    Hey Bachbone (#36), tell me about it. I’ve been married to a Malagasy women for almost 11 years, and even today new cultural problems rear their ugly heads. After the newness wears off and the warm cuddly fuzzy feeling settles in, both sides sides are asking…well hey!! that’s not so cool. And, the differences are not easy to reconcile. My wife was not bought and paid for on the internet….I met her in Madagascar and it was a normal courtship…but when she came to America…she discovered that all was not as she thought it would be. I think we will survive, but thousands won’t.

  39. #39
    On July 26th, 2008 at 2:56 pm, englishqueen01 said:

    “…Even now, Americans can salvage some of the lost dignity by supporting impeachment of Bush:”…

    Yeah, that’s right. Don’t you all know Bush is an immortal time-traveling being who was around in the 16th century to stir up Islamic rage, causing the Crusades and every other instance of Islamic insurgency since the inception of that religion?

    Give me a break.

    America won’t have “dignity” by pandering to the terrorists - both Islamic and liberal - who seek to destroy her.

    All she’ll have is death - and a slow, painful one.

  40. #40
    On July 26th, 2008 at 4:43 pm, txvet2 said:

    On July 26th, 2008 at 2:07 pm, Rob said:

    Oh, I think you could say that is the same for a culture in this country too.. with much the same results.

    Not really, except with ME males who retain their cultural quirks, like engaging in honor murders. At any rate, I was responding to a specific comment dealing with Islam, not generalizing.

  41. #41
    On July 26th, 2008 at 7:05 pm, GJCorby said:

    I would like to know just what was she thinking taking her children to Yemen to see an abusive father? A blind man could have seen the outcome of this, middle eastern countries are not known for their support of women’s rights and the father took advantage of the situation. She has no one but herself to blame for loosing her children.

  42. #42
    On July 26th, 2008 at 7:58 pm, PJ said:

    As politically insensitive as this will sound, it is my humble opinion that any American woman who marries a muslim is looking for major, serious, murderous trouble. She may get veryveryvery lucky and not find it, but the chances are that she will. I have little sympathy for the fruitcake that blindly and voluntarity submits to the slave-like treatment that she will receive, but I have nothing but sympathy for any children she may have.

  43. #43
    On July 26th, 2008 at 8:19 pm, SpeakEasy said:

    Bhishma, your BDS is showing. While I am not completely happy with Pres. Bush’s performance on all fronts, I would say he takes the terrorism threat seriously and has acted to counter- fairly well. Oh, and we have this crazy little thing called an election- that is how you become president. Twice. Who knew?

  44. #44
    On July 26th, 2008 at 8:35 pm, ArizonaNeanderthal said:

    Bhishma said:
    Americans are suckers to elect and then, not impeach a wahhabbi tool to - Wealth (daddy Bush & Saudi Arabia).

    Sure you didn’t mean John Kennedy, richER daddy Kennedy?
    Actually I had a better come back but a few people beat me to it. But tell us Oh Wise One Bhishma if you really feel “Americans are suckers” why don’t you move to Europe and hang with the cool people? Just why do you hang with the fools? And just what does that post have to do with the story Not without my daughters (and son)? You wouldn’t be a social worker in Ohio would you?
    We await your answer Oh Wise One Bhishma.

    Allah be Praised
    Allie OOP OOP 2

  45. #45
    On July 26th, 2008 at 10:04 pm, CJ said:

    The only ones to feel sorry for are the kids. Anyway we could convince Yemen to do a trade — the bimbo mother and her supporters (CAIR, ACLU, etc.) for the kids? Of course, it being Yemen, the girls are probably already married, and the boy is probably at spending the summer at Camp Terrorist Wannabe.

    http://yementimes.com/article.shtml?i=1145&p=front&a=2

  46. #46
    On July 27th, 2008 at 9:41 am, jamesgreenidge said:

    On July 26th, 2008 at 1:30 pm, graysonret said:
    Sometimes, I wish we had a real “IMF” team, instead of Peter Graves, Barbara Bain and Martin Landau.

    For a long time I’ve wondered whether our covert and intelligence services are really as cutting edge and aggressive as our fine military. I know Demlibs have a lot to do with tying their hands out of bogus frets, but I wish I really knew the story. I feel bad enough that, unlike the military where there are places you can send gifts and thanks to our servicemen, there’s no place you can show same to the secret services who as often walk into harm’s way for us.

    James Greenidge
    Queens NY

  47. #47
    On July 27th, 2008 at 10:41 am, jeanie said:

    Some women are fools and some women are d–n fools!!!

  48. #48
    On July 27th, 2008 at 3:26 pm, JHSII said:

    I don’t think our civilian intelligence services have ever recovered from the Church Committee.

  49. #49
    On July 28th, 2008 at 8:38 am, concretebob said:

    Paging Janet Reno: Ther’s a child that needs to be kidnapped at gunpoint.

  50. #50
    On July 28th, 2008 at 9:12 am, Viper1 said:

    Sad but not unexpected

  51. #51
    On July 28th, 2008 at 10:45 am, James Felix said:

    And now I’m supposed to weep for her? Sorry, no sale.

    No, I think we’re supposed to weep for the children who were so badly failed by the people who were supposed to protect them.

  52. #52
    On July 28th, 2008 at 10:52 am, James Felix said:

    Even now, Americans can salvage some of the lost dignity by supporting impeachment of Bush:

    Watching you lunatics connect Bush to everything that goes wrong is even more amusing than a round of “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon”. Is there even one single issue that won’t bring you out of the woodwork to post a badly punctuated, grammatically challenged, logic defying conspiracy theory?

    I wonder… with your very existence defined by opposition to this man what will you do after he leaves office? How will you fill your days? I guess you can always go back to debunking the moon landing.

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Categories: Deportation Abyss, Sharia


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