Arriving in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Thursday night and armed with a
sense of
purpose--and a list of 14 names--Chairman Dan Burton (R-IN) is leading a
bipartisan delegation attempting to do something the State Department
has stubbornly refused to do for nearly two decades: rescue kidnapped
American children (some of whom are now young adults) trapped in the
desert prison.
Right as the United States' relationship with the oil-rich
nation has
been receiving a fresh round of critical scrutiny from foreign policy
types--particularly conservatives--the Saudi royal family has an
opportunity to reverse course and actually allow Americans held hostage
in the Kingdom the chance to taste freedom in the one country where they
belong: America.
Far from the political caricature he has been reduced to in
liberal
editorial pages, Rep. Burton is filled with a fighting spirit and a
seriousness of purpose. The Chairman of the House Government Reform
Committee is on the verge of pulling off a feat that the State
Department has not managed despite a supposedly-full time devotion to
helping abducted American children. He helped thrust the issue to the
front burner of public consciousness this summer when he held hearings
on June 12.
Centrally featured at Burton's hearings was the woman who first
brought the issue of kidnapped kids stolen away to Saudi Arabia to
public awareness, Patricia Roush. Roush's two beautiful daughters, Alia
and Aisha al-Gheshayan, were kidnapped from the Chicago area by their
Saudi national father in 1986. In the 16 years since, Roush has
tirelessly championed the cause of not just her daughters, but the
plights of other abducted children. The unifying theme across almost
all similar cases is the indifference--if not outright hostility--State
has shown toward the parents and their efforts to rescue American
children. Roush herself has not even seen her own (now adult) daughters
since 1995.
Though Roush has pioneered the political movement to rescue
abducted
children, her daughters have received less attention in the week leading
up to Burton's trip than Amjad Radwan, a 19-year-old American citizen
who suffers tremendously (as Aisha and Alia do) just by virtue of being
a woman in a frighteningly backward nation that doesn't even aspire to
treat women as well as second-class citizens. Radwan stands perhaps the
best chance of any of the children and young adults because of her
suddenly high profile.
In response to Burton's request of the President that he "convey
[his]
concerns about these cases to [Prince Bandar]" during the meeting at
Crawford this week, George W. Bush discussed Radwan by name--but not
Aisha or Alia--with Bandar, which should all but guarantee her safe
release. Following Radwan's safe exit from Saudi Arabia, hopefully
others will be granted the same treatment. "Burton's list" has a total
of 14 names of Americans trapped inside the fiery gates of the Kingdom
of Saud, and Burton will make every effort to ensure the safe release of
every last name on his list.
Burton's delegation of two Democrats and three other Republicans
will
be meeting with Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal tomorrow and
Sunday, demanding that the 14 children and young adults be allowed to
leave with the Congressmen. Prince al-Faisal may try to hide behind the
fig leaf of misogynistic Saudi law that says women cannot get exit visas
to escape Saudi Arabia without the permission of a husband or father.
But the beauty of running the Kingdom is that pesky little niceties like
Constitutional rights and legal protections that might apply in, say,
America, don't even exist in Saudi Arabia. If the House of Saud really
wanted to deliver those kidnapees to their rightful and legal parents,
all it would have to do is say the word, and it would be a done deal.
If Prince al-Faisal tells the ruse that the Americans would
rather
stay in the desert prison, then the answer should be obvious: send them
to America, where no one can doubt that they have the freedom to leave.
If one of the kids or young adults decides that unabashed freedom in
America pales in comparison to the tyranny of the House of Saud, then he
or she would be free to hop on a plane and fly back to Saudi Arabia.
Ironically, the New York Times reported this week that the House
of
Saud is spending truckloads of cash on lobbyists and glitzy public
relations efforts-but Americans aren't being duped. Since May, negative
public perceptions of Saudi Arabia have risen from 50 percent to 63
percent of the general population. In other words, Saudi Arabia has
burned thru $5 million of cash with absolutely no progress to show for
it. But Burton's trip presents the House of Saud with a golden
opportunity to save face and look a little less despotic--never mind the
chance to do the right thing.
Although she says she believes "with all [her] heart" that her
daughters will eventually return to her loving embrace, Roush is hedging
her bets about the prospects for this trip. "I can't afford to get my
hopes up. It's just too emotionally draining when the bottom falls
out," she notes with emotion weighing heavily on her voice. But the
woman who has assumed the role of spokeswoman and advocate for other
parents living thru abduction hell is quick to point out the
significance of the Congressional trip: "Now is the time, and Dan Burton
is the man."