I was going to stay out of this, but Gene, you've done it. What if this were my child? I would be begging the US to return him. Elian has become a political football. As Jim says the only one who has any rights in this matter, absent a finding that he is unfit as a father is the father. There is no indication that he is not fit. The kindly sister who was a neutral and then had the gall to say that she has changed her mind after the meeting with the grand parents--not because they bear false tidings, but because she says the kid has now bonded with his new Miami family. Hell, give me that kid and let me take him to Disney World and love and hug him and he would even bond with me and as you know from the pictures that Larry H puts up, I am not an easy person with whom to bond. <g>