Virginia couple sued by Afghan refugees of crazy scheme to kidnap their baby

[Anonymous]

I lived in this region for two years for work. Sorry, but the entire region is a TERRIBLE place for girls and women! Honor killings happen….regularly. Girls and women in all levels of society spend lives mainly indoors, and their only entertainment is visiting other female relatives. They have no recourse if victims of domestic violence, which is very, very common and weirdly accepted as the norm by many of the local women I met or knew because that is just the way it is and the natural order is things. They are taught to be subservient to males in the family even if beaten, even if raped (actually, there is no concept of rape within marriage), and to never expect equal treatment. It is horrifying to behold. And not something that you can really understand if you don’t see it firsthand.

So I think the girl is lucky to have been taken from that. I hope the American family is allowed to keep her. It would be a tragedy if she were sent back to Afghanistan.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I lived in this region for two years for work. Sorry, but the entire region is a TERRIBLE place for girls and women! Honor killings happen….regularly. Girls and women in all levels of society spend lives mainly indoors, and their only entertainment is visiting other female relatives. They have no recourse if victims of domestic violence, which is very, very common and weirdly accepted as the norm by many of the local women I met or knew because that is just the way it is and the natural order is things. They are taught to be subservient to males in the family even if beaten, even if raped (actually, there is no concept of rape within marriage), and to never expect equal treatment. It is horrifying to behold. And not something that you can really understand if you don’t see it firsthand.

So I think the girl is lucky to have been taken from that. I hope the American family is allowed to keep her. It would be a tragedy if she were sent back to Afghanistan.

No one is suggesting that the child be sent back to Afghanistan. The family members seeking to raise her are legally in this country.

But furthermore, her cousin ran a coed school in Afghanistan. His wife is highly educated. Yes, there are families in Afghanistan who don't believe women should leave their homes, but there is no evidence that this particular family believes that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^ Forgot to add that there is a whole political issue that is also a huge factor. The baby's parents were killed on or around September 5, 2019.

A few months before this was the time when the US was negotiating a withdrawal with the Taliban. The talks between U.S. special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad and top Taliban official Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar centered on the United States withdrawing its troops from Afghanistan in exchange for the Taliban pledging to block international terrorist groups from operating on Afghan soil.

So the position of the US and Taliban was that there weren't foreign fighters yet villagers and Army rangers say there were. So it was in the interest of officials on both sides to say a baby found was not foreign but Afghani.

This is also why DNA testing needs to be done.

1) the video you linked shows a little girl with dark hair. WITW are you talking about?

2) there are laws that handle situations like this, and as already discussed in posts above, the placement of the child falls under Afghan law. It doesn’t matter what you think or what you want to make you satisfied. It doesn’t matter what I think and it certainly doesn’t matter what the Masts think. Under Afghan law, a child that loses its parents is to be placed with a willing family member. If that isn’t possible, then the child is to be placed with a Muslim Afghan family. Joshua Mast is not an Afghan citizen and he’s also not Muslim. End of story. He has zero claim to this child when she was on Afghan soil. And luring her caretakers to bring her all the way to the US (aka child trafficking) doesn’t change that either.

The US is not going to ignore treaties and laws covering child trafficking and the courts have said as much. Under Afghan law a DNA is irrelevant. If the couple were to take a DNA test and it finds 0% difference they’re not disqualified from being the rightful guardians. You don’t seem to understand that. It has zero bearing in the case.

[Anonymous]

I imagine all the posters writing that the Afghanistan relatives should take a DNA test and if there is no blood relation the child should stay with the American who lied and lured the family here are some of the same people posting six years ago that babies and small children separated from family members at the border should be placed with American families for adoption. Sick.

[Anonymous]

CBS ran a story that shows the girl has really light hair and skin without showing her face.

Oh now it’s even clearer why this Liberty University couple wanted to steal her.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^ Forgot to add that there is a whole political issue that is also a huge factor. The baby's parents were killed on or around September 5, 2019.

A few months before this was the time when the US was negotiating a withdrawal with the Taliban. The talks between U.S. special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad and top Taliban official Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar centered on the United States withdrawing its troops from Afghanistan in exchange for the Taliban pledging to block international terrorist groups from operating on Afghan soil.

So the position of the US and Taliban was that there weren't foreign fighters yet villagers and Army rangers say there were. So it was in the interest of officials on both sides to say a baby found was not foreign but Afghani.

This is also why DNA testing needs to be done.

The only evidence that this was the child of fighters and not the farmers seems to come from Mast himself. The farmer's family doesn't agree. The villagers don't agree. The young girl who claims to have dropped her brother doesn't agree. We know that Mast is a child trafficker who lied under oath. Why would we believe him about this.

But even if somehow there was a mistake. Maybe the family living on the other side of the wall also had a baby, and she's the one who survived, while the farmer's baby actually died. That baby is still Afghan, because the fighters arrived in 2017, and the baby was clearly not born then. Afghan law says that a child born in Afghanistan with stateless or unknown parents is Afghan. So, the baby is Afghan, and the Afghan government can choose who will raise her.

As for your "but she has light skin" theory, I'll offer these pictures of Afghan children from Unicef.

https://www.unicef.org/emergencies/delivering-support-afghanistans-children

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^ Forgot to add that there is a whole political issue that is also a huge factor. The baby's parents were killed on or around September 5, 2019.

A few months before this was the time when the US was negotiating a withdrawal with the Taliban. The talks between U.S. special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad and top Taliban official Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar centered on the United States withdrawing its troops from Afghanistan in exchange for the Taliban pledging to block international terrorist groups from operating on Afghan soil.

So the position of the US and Taliban was that there weren't foreign fighters yet villagers and Army rangers say there were. So it was in the interest of officials on both sides to say a baby found was not foreign but Afghani.

This is also why DNA testing needs to be done.

The only evidence that this was the child of fighters and not the farmers seems to come from Mast himself. The farmer's family doesn't agree. The villagers don't agree. The young girl who claims to have dropped her brother doesn't agree. We know that Mast is a child trafficker who lied under oath. Why would we believe him about this.

But even if somehow there was a mistake. Maybe the family living on the other side of the wall also had a baby, and she's the one who survived, while the farmer's baby actually died. That baby is still Afghan, because the fighters arrived in 2017, and the baby was clearly not born then. Afghan law says that a child born in Afghanistan with stateless or unknown parents is Afghan. So, the baby is Afghan, and the Afghan government can choose who will raise her.

As for your "but she has light skin" theory, I'll offer these pictures of Afghan children from Unicef.

https://www.unicef.org/emergencies/delivering-support-afghanistans-children

It doesn't matter if the child has blond hair and blue eyes. It doesn't matter if the parents were farmers or fighters. The baby did not have parents. She was in Afghanistan. She thereby had to be of Afghan descent. Therefore under Afghan law she goes to a family member OR another muslim Afghan family. The Masts, or any other American, or any other nonAfghan have absolutely no valid claim. None. End of story. So we don't need dna or to talk about hair and skin color. IT IS IRRELEVANT.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^ Forgot to add that there is a whole political issue that is also a huge factor. The baby's parents were killed on or around September 5, 2019.

A few months before this was the time when the US was negotiating a withdrawal with the Taliban. The talks between U.S. special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad and top Taliban official Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar centered on the United States withdrawing its troops from Afghanistan in exchange for the Taliban pledging to block international terrorist groups from operating on Afghan soil.

So the position of the US and Taliban was that there weren't foreign fighters yet villagers and Army rangers say there were. So it was in the interest of officials on both sides to say a baby found was not foreign but Afghani.

This is also why DNA testing needs to be done.

1) the video you linked shows a little girl with dark hair. WITW are you talking about?

2) there are laws that handle situations like this, and as already discussed in posts above, the placement of the child falls under Afghan law. It doesn’t matter what you think or what you want to make you satisfied. It doesn’t matter what I think and it certainly doesn’t matter what the Masts think. Under Afghan law, a child that loses its parents is to be placed with a willing family member. If that isn’t possible, then the child is to be placed with a Muslim Afghan family. Joshua Mast is not an Afghan citizen and he’s also not Muslim. End of story. He has zero claim to this child when she was on Afghan soil. And luring her caretakers to bring her all the way to the US (aka child trafficking) doesn’t change that either.

The US is not going to ignore treaties and laws covering child trafficking and the courts have said as much. Under Afghan law a DNA is irrelevant. If the couple were to take a DNA test and it finds 0% difference they’re not disqualified from being the rightful guardians. You don’t seem to understand that. It has zero bearing in the case.

At 1:19 the video shows a blond kid. The child deserves to know who her biological family is. A DNA test absolutely is critical to resolving the case.

What Afghan government? The Taliban? The US doesn’t even recognize the Afghan govt . And neither do most countries.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^ Forgot to add that there is a whole political issue that is also a huge factor. The baby's parents were killed on or around September 5, 2019.

A few months before this was the time when the US was negotiating a withdrawal with the Taliban. The talks between U.S. special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad and top Taliban official Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar centered on the United States withdrawing its troops from Afghanistan in exchange for the Taliban pledging to block international terrorist groups from operating on Afghan soil.

So the position of the US and Taliban was that there weren't foreign fighters yet villagers and Army rangers say there were. So it was in the interest of officials on both sides to say a baby found was not foreign but Afghani.

This is also why DNA testing needs to be done.

1) the video you linked shows a little girl with dark hair. WITW are you talking about?

2) there are laws that handle situations like this, and as already discussed in posts above, the placement of the child falls under Afghan law. It doesn’t matter what you think or what you want to make you satisfied. It doesn’t matter what I think and it certainly doesn’t matter what the Masts think. Under Afghan law, a child that loses its parents is to be placed with a willing family member. If that isn’t possible, then the child is to be placed with a Muslim Afghan family. Joshua Mast is not an Afghan citizen and he’s also not Muslim. End of story. He has zero claim to this child when she was on Afghan soil. And luring her caretakers to bring her all the way to the US (aka child trafficking) doesn’t change that either.

The US is not going to ignore treaties and laws covering child trafficking and the courts have said as much. Under Afghan law a DNA is irrelevant. If the couple were to take a DNA test and it finds 0% difference they’re not disqualified from being the rightful guardians. You don’t seem to understand that. It has zero bearing in the case.

At 1:19 the video shows a blond kid. The child deserves to know who her biological family is. A DNA test absolutely is critical to resolving the case.

What Afghan government? The Taliban? The US doesn’t even recognize the Afghan govt . And neither do most countries.

What?! That is the brownest brunettey brown ever. She has natural highlights, which, at most, could be termed, lighter brown.

But also, what a ridiculous hill to die on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^ Forgot to add that there is a whole political issue that is also a huge factor. The baby's parents were killed on or around September 5, 2019.

A few months before this was the time when the US was negotiating a withdrawal with the Taliban. The talks between U.S. special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad and top Taliban official Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar centered on the United States withdrawing its troops from Afghanistan in exchange for the Taliban pledging to block international terrorist groups from operating on Afghan soil.

So the position of the US and Taliban was that there weren't foreign fighters yet villagers and Army rangers say there were. So it was in the interest of officials on both sides to say a baby found was not foreign but Afghani.

This is also why DNA testing needs to be done.

1) the video you linked shows a little girl with dark hair. WITW are you talking about?

2) there are laws that handle situations like this, and as already discussed in posts above, the placement of the child falls under Afghan law. It doesn’t matter what you think or what you want to make you satisfied. It doesn’t matter what I think and it certainly doesn’t matter what the Masts think. Under Afghan law, a child that loses its parents is to be placed with a willing family member. If that isn’t possible, then the child is to be placed with a Muslim Afghan family. Joshua Mast is not an Afghan citizen and he’s also not Muslim. End of story. He has zero claim to this child when she was on Afghan soil. And luring her caretakers to bring her all the way to the US (aka child trafficking) doesn’t change that either.

The US is not going to ignore treaties and laws covering child trafficking and the courts have said as much. Under Afghan law a DNA is irrelevant. If the couple were to take a DNA test and it finds 0% difference they’re not disqualified from being the rightful guardians. You don’t seem to understand that. It has zero bearing in the case.

At 1:19 the video shows a blond kid. The child deserves to know who her biological family is. A DNA test absolutely is critical to resolving the case.

What Afghan government? The Taliban? The US doesn’t even recognize the Afghan govt . And neither do most countries.

If another country's military officer kidnapped and trafficked an adopted child born in America, would you argue that that's OK?

The evidence that this kid isn't who her family says she is is very scanty, but even if somehow there was a mistake it doesn't justify child trafficking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I really don't think this case is as clear cut as everyone thinks. Villagers and Army Rangers who were interviewed have said light skinned and light haired foreign fighters lived next door to the farmer and shared a wall. An Army Ranger pointed out on camera in an interview where the baby was found and it was the foreign fighters child. He said that Afghan soldiers said to throw the baby away. Several men, women, and children who died were buried in the village separately than the Afghani villagers who were killed. So there is a very good possibility the child is not Afghani.

CBS ran a story that shows the girl has really light hair and skin without showing her face.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOSv3PeDRdE

While some Afghani people certainly have lighter hair and skin the villagers commented that the foreign fighters even had light beards. When an AP photographer went to the village and took pictures there are light skinned villagers but to me they look different than this girl.

The easiest way to solve this case is for DNA testing to be conducted. Simple, cheap, and fast. If she is genetically related to the Afghan couple she should immediately be returned to them. DNA testing would bolster the Doe case so why are the Afghani couple unwilling to have DNA testing conducted? If it were my relative I were fighting for, then I would go out and get DNA testing done and have my lawyer repeatedly announce they have DNA testing testing and want to compare results with the child. But they refuse? Why?

I am sure someone is going to think I am a Mast supporter. I certainly am not and don't agree with what they did. But now that the girl is in the US, DNA testing needs to be done to clear up the case.

Regardless of dna, the child doesn’t belong with the Masts. They broke the law, and have never had a valid claim to this child.
So, no, dna testing isn’t necessary to resolve the case.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^ Forgot to add that there is a whole political issue that is also a huge factor. The baby's parents were killed on or around September 5, 2019.

A few months before this was the time when the US was negotiating a withdrawal with the Taliban. The talks between U.S. special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad and top Taliban official Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar centered on the United States withdrawing its troops from Afghanistan in exchange for the Taliban pledging to block international terrorist groups from operating on Afghan soil.

So the position of the US and Taliban was that there weren't foreign fighters yet villagers and Army rangers say there were. So it was in the interest of officials on both sides to say a baby found was not foreign but Afghani.

This is also why DNA testing needs to be done.

1) the video you linked shows a little girl with dark hair. WITW are you talking about?

2) there are laws that handle situations like this, and as already discussed in posts above, the placement of the child falls under Afghan law. It doesn’t matter what you think or what you want to make you satisfied. It doesn’t matter what I think and it certainly doesn’t matter what the Masts think. Under Afghan law, a child that loses its parents is to be placed with a willing family member. If that isn’t possible, then the child is to be placed with a Muslim Afghan family. Joshua Mast is not an Afghan citizen and he’s also not Muslim. End of story. He has zero claim to this child when she was on Afghan soil. And luring her caretakers to bring her all the way to the US (aka child trafficking) doesn’t change that either.

The US is not going to ignore treaties and laws covering child trafficking and the courts have said as much. Under Afghan law a DNA is irrelevant. If the couple were to take a DNA test and it finds 0% difference they’re not disqualified from being the rightful guardians. You don’t seem to understand that. It has zero bearing in the case.

At 1:19 the video shows a blond kid. The child deserves to know who her biological family is. A DNA test absolutely is critical to resolving the case.

What Afghan government? The Taliban? The US doesn’t even recognize the Afghan govt . And neither do most countries.

The State Department absolutely does recognize and work with the Afghan government which right now is the Taliban. What have you been smoking?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^ Forgot to add that there is a whole political issue that is also a huge factor. The baby's parents were killed on or around September 5, 2019.

A few months before this was the time when the US was negotiating a withdrawal with the Taliban. The talks between U.S. special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad and top Taliban official Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar centered on the United States withdrawing its troops from Afghanistan in exchange for the Taliban pledging to block international terrorist groups from operating on Afghan soil.

So the position of the US and Taliban was that there weren't foreign fighters yet villagers and Army rangers say there were. So it was in the interest of officials on both sides to say a baby found was not foreign but Afghani.

This is also why DNA testing needs to be done.

The only evidence that this was the child of fighters and not the farmers seems to come from Mast himself. The farmer's family doesn't agree. The villagers don't agree. The young girl who claims to have dropped her brother doesn't agree. We know that Mast is a child trafficker who lied under oath. Why would we believe him about this.

But even if somehow there was a mistake. Maybe the family living on the other side of the wall also had a baby, and she's the one who survived, while the farmer's baby actually died. That baby is still Afghan, because the fighters arrived in 2017, and the baby was clearly not born then. Afghan law says that a child born in Afghanistan with stateless or unknown parents is Afghan. So, the baby is Afghan, and the Afghan government can choose who will raise her.

As for your "but she has light skin" theory, I'll offer these pictures of Afghan children from Unicef.

https://www.unicef.org/emergencies/delivering-support-afghanistans-children

It doesn't matter if the child has blond hair and blue eyes. It doesn't matter if the parents were farmers or fighters. The baby did not have parents. She was in Afghanistan. She thereby had to be of Afghan descent. Therefore under Afghan law she goes to a family member OR another muslim Afghan family. The Masts, or any other American, or any other nonAfghan have absolutely no valid claim. None. End of story. So we don't need dna or to talk about hair and skin color. IT IS IRRELEVANT.

AP investigated and interviewed villagers who said foreign fighters who were light skinned recently had moved into the village. So did an Army ranger who states that he was there with Afghan forces. The Afghan forces stated they were not Afghani. At that time there were foreign fighters from Tajikistan helping the Taliban. Something the US didn’t want because the peace agreement that was being negotiated at that time forbade foreign Al Queda militants from being in Afghanistan.

The Mast absolutely shouldn’t have taken her so I am not siding with them. I want the truth and am skeptical of why the Afghani couple is refusing to take a DNA test. I am from South America where so many babies were stolen during the years Chile and Argentina were run by dictators. The only way families have been able to figure out is who their biological family is by DNA testing.

Enough doubt exists in the case that it absolutely should be done. She could be not Afghani but Her family could be from Tajikistan or somewhere else.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^ Forgot to add that there is a whole political issue that is also a huge factor. The baby's parents were killed on or around September 5, 2019.

A few months before this was the time when the US was negotiating a withdrawal with the Taliban. The talks between U.S. special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad and top Taliban official Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar centered on the United States withdrawing its troops from Afghanistan in exchange for the Taliban pledging to block international terrorist groups from operating on Afghan soil.

So the position of the US and Taliban was that there weren't foreign fighters yet villagers and Army rangers say there were. So it was in the interest of officials on both sides to say a baby found was not foreign but Afghani.

This is also why DNA testing needs to be done.

1) the video you linked shows a little girl with dark hair. WITW are you talking about?

2) there are laws that handle situations like this, and as already discussed in posts above, the placement of the child falls under Afghan law. It doesn’t matter what you think or what you want to make you satisfied. It doesn’t matter what I think and it certainly doesn’t matter what the Masts think. Under Afghan law, a child that loses its parents is to be placed with a willing family member. If that isn’t possible, then the child is to be placed with a Muslim Afghan family. Joshua Mast is not an Afghan citizen and he’s also not Muslim. End of story. He has zero claim to this child when she was on Afghan soil. And luring her caretakers to bring her all the way to the US (aka child trafficking) doesn’t change that either.

The US is not going to ignore treaties and laws covering child trafficking and the courts have said as much. Under Afghan law a DNA is irrelevant. If the couple were to take a DNA test and it finds 0% difference they’re not disqualified from being the rightful guardians. You don’t seem to understand that. It has zero bearing in the case.

At 1:19 the video shows a blond kid. The child deserves to know who her biological family is. A DNA test absolutely is critical to resolving the case.

What Afghan government? The Taliban? The US doesn’t even recognize the Afghan govt . And neither do most countries.

The State Department absolutely does recognize and work with the Afghan government which right now is the Taliban. What have you been smoking?

This is from the State Department website:
On February 29, 2020, the United States and the Taliban signed the Doha Agreement, which led to the August 30, 2021, withdrawal of U.S. and Allied forces from Afghanistan. Since the forcible takeover by the Taliban in August 2021, culminating in the fall of Kabul on August 15, the United States has shifted to a position of pragmatic engagement in Afghanistan. The United States has not yet made a decision as to whether to recognize the Taliban or any other entity as the Government of Afghanistan or as part of such a government.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^ Forgot to add that there is a whole political issue that is also a huge factor. The baby's parents were killed on or around September 5, 2019.

A few months before this was the time when the US was negotiating a withdrawal with the Taliban. The talks between U.S. special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad and top Taliban official Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar centered on the United States withdrawing its troops from Afghanistan in exchange for the Taliban pledging to block international terrorist groups from operating on Afghan soil.

So the position of the US and Taliban was that there weren't foreign fighters yet villagers and Army rangers say there were. So it was in the interest of officials on both sides to say a baby found was not foreign but Afghani.

This is also why DNA testing needs to be done.

The only evidence that this was the child of fighters and not the farmers seems to come from Mast himself. The farmer's family doesn't agree. The villagers don't agree. The young girl who claims to have dropped her brother doesn't agree. We know that Mast is a child trafficker who lied under oath. Why would we believe him about this.

But even if somehow there was a mistake. Maybe the family living on the other side of the wall also had a baby, and she's the one who survived, while the farmer's baby actually died. That baby is still Afghan, because the fighters arrived in 2017, and the baby was clearly not born then. Afghan law says that a child born in Afghanistan with stateless or unknown parents is Afghan. So, the baby is Afghan, and the Afghan government can choose who will raise her.

As for your "but she has light skin" theory, I'll offer these pictures of Afghan children from Unicef.

https://www.unicef.org/emergencies/delivering-support-afghanistans-children

It doesn't matter if the child has blond hair and blue eyes. It doesn't matter if the parents were farmers or fighters. The baby did not have parents. She was in Afghanistan. She thereby had to be of Afghan descent. Therefore under Afghan law she goes to a family member OR another muslim Afghan family. The Masts, or any other American, or any other nonAfghan have absolutely no valid claim. None. End of story. So we don't need dna or to talk about hair and skin color. IT IS IRRELEVANT.

AP investigated and interviewed villagers who said foreign fighters who were light skinned recently had moved into the village. So did an Army ranger who states that he was there with Afghan forces. The Afghan forces stated they were not Afghani. At that time there were foreign fighters from Tajikistan helping the Taliban. Something the US didn’t want because the peace agreement that was being negotiated at that time forbade foreign Al Queda militants from being in Afghanistan.

The Mast absolutely shouldn’t have taken her so I am not siding with them. I want the truth and am skeptical of why the Afghani couple is refusing to take a DNA test. I am from South America where so many babies were stolen during the years Chile and Argentina were run by dictators. The only way families have been able to figure out is who their biological family is by DNA testing.

Enough doubt exists in the case that it absolutely should be done. She could be not Afghani but Her family could be from Tajikistan or somewhere else.

What bizarre conspiracy theory do you have that would explain why the farmer's brother believed the farmer had a baby girl that age, and the farmer's living children believe they had a baby sister, and describe being separated from that baby sister? What motivation would there be for the farmer's brother to pretend that she was his niece and take responsibility for him?