All the President's Women (misleading title alert)

Wall Street Journal (paid subscribers only) ^ | June 26, 2002 | Review & Outlook

[snopercod]

White House spokesman Ari Fleischer should stop referring to grown women as children. The women in question are Amjad Radwan and Alia and Aisha Gheshayan, three American citizens in Saudi Arabia whose fate has finally become an issue for Congress.

[snopercod]

Is Janet Reno still under contract to the DOJ?

[BlackVeil]

A scary story. Imagine what might be happening to that wife and children at this moment. I do not know of any country but Saudi Arabia who could get away with doing this to a US citizen. No matter what, the US/Saudi alliance remains in place. Evil.

[FITZ]

If the father is a Saudi, the mother should have realized certain aspects of their culture and Islamic law before marrying him and having his children. She made a choice to marry and give birth to Arabs and now wants the US government to get involved.

[snopercod]

Did I miss the part about the daughters being US Citizens?

[BlackVeil]

It says: "Amjad Radwan and Alia and Aisha Gheshayan, three American citizens in Saudi Arabia ... " I take it that the children inherited citizenship from their mother.

[homeschool mama]

I believe they were born in the United States.

[Orangedog]

No, you didn't miss it. If these grown adults want to leave Saudi Arabia, why don't they just go to the US embassy, tell the staff that they are United States Citizens, and that they want safe passage out of the country? Yes, even in Saudi Arabia, the US embassy is sovereign US territory. These grown adults need to be a little more proactive if they REALLY want to come back to the US. It's a big country with very long borders. Even if the US embassy in Saudi isn't cooperative, there is always one in Kuwait or the UAE.

[Orangedog]

She made a choice to marry and give birth to Arabs and now wants the US government to get involved.

So are these two still married? If Saudi law is so restrictive regarding women, how does she still have free run of the country?

Sounds like the Saudis don't want any part of the American divorce industry. And I don't know why they keep calling this a custody issue. Buzz words like "custody" and accusations of the "children" being raped by the father usually give mothers all of the cards in the US domestic courts, but Saudi Arabia isn't run by lawyers and hack judges....it's run by a corrupt royal family, which is almost as bad as lawyers and hack judges.

[FITZ]

Even if it's just a custody issue, that's not what the US government should be involved in. Usually custody cases are for local courts. If Americans choose to marry outside their own culture, it should be at their own risk. Judging from the names of these "children", they are culturally Arabs and maybe the mother changed her mind about original agreements made with her Saudi husband.

[altair]

I take it that the children inherited citizenship from their mother.

Yes. That's how it works elsewhere.

[altair]

If Saudi law is so restrictive regarding women, how does she still have free run of the country?

It is and she doesn't. Women aren't allowed any public transportation without both the permission of their spouse/head of household and an escort. There was an article (written by the Department of State) posted here recently that went into great detail on this.

[altair]

If these grown adults want to leave Saudi Arabia, why don't they just go to the US embassy, tell the staff that they are United States Citizens, and that they want safe passage out of the country?

They can't do that and the embassy cannot help. Embassies respect local law and the local law in Saudi Arabia forbids them from getting to the US Embassy without permission and an escort.

[rudehost]

She made a choice to marry and give birth to Arabs and now wants the US government to get involved.

Yeah in some of these cases all the saudi guys did was illegally steal the children and sell them into saudi arabia's version of slavery (marriage).

Its just like those whiny people who made the choice to build the real tall buildings in new york and had them knocked down and now they want the government to get involved.

[HiTech RedNeck]

If these grown adults want to leave Saudi Arabia, why don't they just go to the US embassy, tell the staff that they are United States Citizens, and that they want safe passage out of the country?

I believe something like that did happen. The US Marines kicked them out.

[HiTech RedNeck]

If these grown adults want to leave Saudi Arabia, why don't they just go to the US embassy, tell the staff that they are United States Citizens, and that they want safe passage out of the country?

I believe something like that did happen. The US Marines kicked them out.

(Not these particular people... but a similar situation.)