A U.S. Marine used political connections to adopt an Afghan baby, her family says. Now they're suing

[WhiskeyGrinder]

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/a-u-s-marine-used-political-connections-and-courts-to-adopt-an-afghan-baby-the-family-raising-her-didnt-know-until-she-was-taken

The young Afghan couple raced to the airport in Kabul, clutching their baby girl close amid the chaotic withdrawal of American troops last year.

The baby had been rescued two years earlier from the rubble of a U.S. Special Forces raid that killed her parents and five siblings. After months in a U.S. military hospital, she had gone to live with her cousin and his wife, this newlywed couple. Now, the family was bound for the United States for further medical treatment, with the aid of U.S. Marine Corps attorney Joshua Mast.

When the exhausted Afghans arrived at the airport in Washington, D.C., in late August 2021, Mast pulled them out of the international arrivals line and led them to an inspecting officer, according to a lawsuit they filed last month. They were surprised when Mast presented an Afghan passport for the child, the couple said. But it was the last name printed on the document that stopped them cold: Mast.

They didn’t know it, but they would soon lose their baby.

[Tanuki]

1. How terrible for that child and her Afghani family.

The adoptive father (Mast) is an attorney and should be disbarred for perjury among other offenses, and so should his brother, also an attorney, who represented him. On some level Mast may have meant well, but he lied, cheated, and stole a child from her rightful family.

[secondwind]

2. What a horrible story. Christian extremists stealing Afghan

baby girl …….. just because.

Very sad story.

[Wingus Dingus]

3. Mixed feelings because she will probably not have a good life in Afghanistan.

But an American-Christo-Nutjob might not ultimately be that great for her either. He's kind of kidnappy and seems to be doing this more for religious clout than love. Yuck on this whole thing. Edit to add: Best case scenario is that the Afghani adoptive parents can remain in the US and raise her here.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

4. "she will probably not have a good life in Afghanistan"

People will weigh being surrounded by blood relatives who love and cherish you in dire circumstances and being surrounded by strangers who see you as a prop in comfortable circumstances differently, I suppose.

[Wingus Dingus]

5. Let's not pretend girls and women have good and safe lives there.

But they shouldn't be kidnapped either.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

6. It appears that the greatest danger and violence this child has experienced has been at the hands

of the U.S. government. Meanwhile, the couple who had taken her in:

The young man worked in a medical office and ran a co-ed school, which is unusual in Afghanistan. His wife graduated from high school at the top of her class, and is fluent in three languages, including English. They had married for love, unlike many Afghans in arranged marriages.

[Wingus Dingus]

7. I'm not arguing that the baby should remain with the Masts. But hopefully she can

live with her adoptive Afghani parents in the US. And Joshua and Richard Mast should be charged with kidnapping or human trafficking.

[JI7]

10. It's up to her parents where they want to live. We went through this with Elian

and the right wing trash that included criminal family members in the US wanting to steal him from his father.

[JI7]

8. What is there to be conflicted about ? One shouldn't have more rights to a child

based on what country they are .

Would it be ok for someone that comes from a "nice" area in the US to take a child with parents living in a high crime area ?

Or how about someone from another country taking a child with parents from the US becsuse the US has high number of shootings ?

[Wingus Dingus]

12. The Afghani parents are here, in the US, where their new child was born. I'm just commenting on

the broader issue of this baby growing up in Afghanistan under the Taliban vs. here. I think it would be best if all of them could stay here, but that's not my call. In no way do I mean to suggest this clown should just be able to grab her like a souvenir, regardless.

[pinkstarburst]

9. The Afghan couple are living in Texas

and the idea that this psycho who was obsessed with someone else's baby and was like screw international law from day one should just be allowed to kidnap her because we think our country is so superior? Hell no. He completely kidnapped her. He should be dishonorably discharged from the Marines while they're at it.

[Wingus Dingus]

11. Um...do people not fully read my posts, or what?

I just said I had "mixed feelings" because the Taliban aren't exactly kind to women and girls. I didn't say the nut job should get away with kidnapping.

[iemanja]

13. No one has a right to steal a baby

Whether some regard that country as inferior to ours is irrelevant. It's kidnapping.

[Baitball Blogger]

14. Horrible. I hope his political connections are revealed and disassembled.