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This is a freedom vs. no freedom issue

No this is a family vs. politics issue.

Furthermore, parental rights do not and have never superceded all other rights; parents have never had such a scope of control over their children that they can place them in harm's way and have justification for doing such a thing. Are you next going to argue that all abused children should be returned to their parents?

There was never a history of abuse with Elian. The only reason people had their panties in a wad over him was because of politics. There was not a single shred of evidence that showed Elian was the victim of abuse, and I guarantee you few children ever had such a microscope placed on them with the goal of proving that thesis.

Once abuse is ruled out, we're back to the democrat vs. republican analogy. And no mater how you try to twist and turn, that's exactly what Elian was all about -- politics, and the US quite rightly rejected the notion that a child can be removed from his father over something as trivial as politics.

I asked whether you would return abused children to their abusive parents not because I thought Elian was abused by his parents, but to raise the point that family members sometimes should be "broken apart."

So answer the question. Should all abused children be returned to their parents, and if no, why not? Do parents have ultimate authority over children regardless of how they use that authority? If not, on what grounds are interventions warranted?

It's not true that the US always gives parental rights in cases like this. In Chicago in the 1980's there was a Ukrainian Boy who was allowed to stay (Walter something) while his case went through the courts. The problem with the Elian case, besides the fact that the Clinton Justice Dept had no warrant to invade the house, is that the courts will still deciding the issue. The Govt knew where Elian was, no was no chance of him going anywhere, however by taking him back to Cuba, there was no chance to get him back, even if the relatives won the court case.