Not if he allows stuff like this.
Kate O'Beirne is NR's Washington editor. National Review. 4/24/00 4:00 p.m.
As long as Elian's Miami relatives were determined that the child's rights be protected, there was nothing they could have done to prevent Janet's Reno armed assault on their home. Once the federal appellate court held that Elian should not be denied the opportunity to make an asylum claim, the
Clinton Administration had to move quickly to deny him that opportunity. After a few more days of publicizing photos that could adorn father-son J.C.Penney ads, Mr. Gonzalez's attorney will announce that, back in the bosom of his blended family, Elian has had a change of heart and wishes to withdraw
his asylum claim. Some legal experts believe that such a declaration would end the pending court case, exactly as the Miami family feared.
Despite their determination to defend Elian's rights, which the appellate court found were violated by the INS, their intransigence is being blamed for Saturday's pre-dawn raid. But it is Elian's father who is responsible for the terror his son endured, and the fusillade of bullets he risked.
When the heavily armed agents burst into the little house in Little Havana they met no resistance, the family having pledged not to resist if the INS insisted on taking Elian by force. His cousin, Marisleysis Gonzalez, only begged that Elian not see the guns so threateningly wielded.
In sharp contrast, Elian's father refused countless offers to be reunited with his son peacefully, if not permanently. It was Juan Miguel Gonzalez, either freely or under Castro's orders, who made a non-negotiable demand that was irreconcilable with Elian's legal rights. Once the INS agreed to
satisfy his demands, at all costs, his son was likely to be terrorized. A loving father, who claims to be free from Castro's control, would have been in Florida with his son months ago. Once he finally arrived, he would have walked across broken glass to see his son for an hour. A loving father
would be haunted by the realization that his actions resulted in his terrorized son's cries of "Help me. Help me." Elian's Miami relatives are losing in the court of public opinion, but they have passed Solomon's test with flying colors.
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