Friday, October 21: White Savior Kidnapper
If you're having a good morning, maybe don't keep reading
As someone who spends a decent amount of time researching and reporting on terrible things happening around the world, this one really put a bad taste in my mouth. Yesterday, a friend shared this article with me and warned me that it was “the most white savior thing I’ve ever heard”. He wasn’t lying. Warning: This story ruined my day yesterday, don’t allow it to do the same for you today.
This Associated Press investigation is a long, infuriating read, but it’s deserving of our attention. The AP reports that an Afghan couple is accusing a US soldier of stealing their baby, which is a strange enough headline on its own. But as the story progresses, we find the reality is actually much worse and involves high-ranking military officials and small-town child custody courts in Virginia. I’ve done my best to provide a summary, but the full story is worth your time.
Joshua Mast, a US marine living in North Carolina, was apparently determined to bring home a souvenir from his time in Afghanistan. He claimed a helpless baby was found on the battlefield and had no guardian, so he became determined to bring home an Afghan war orphan, using his Christian faith as an excuse to “rescue” the baby.
What Mast failed to mention was that the baby was already being raised by her cousin and his wife…the legal guardians he conveniently left out. This marine used his status within the armed forces to appeal to high-ranking administration officials and fabricated a story of white savior-hood that tests the limits of imagination. By fashioning himself as a literal white savior, Mast was able to secure travel documents for the child and the couple raising her. Once they traveled safely to the US, the child was taken from her legal guardians and has been in Mast’s custody ever since.
Spoiler alert for those unwilling to read the full story: Joshua Mast and his wife are currently raising a stolen Afghan war orphan somewhere in North Carolina. The Afghan couple that were raising the baby have been given no recourse for her return and haven’t seen the baby for over a year. I’ve got half a mind to do some digging and find out exactly where Mast lives next time I visit, I imagine it wouldn’t be too hard to locate a military couple with a stolen baby.
Side Items
Not Very Chad: Chadian security forces opened fire on anti-government demonstrators yesterday in the country’s two largest cities, killing dozens of people. A government spokesman said 30 people were dead in the capital, N’Djamena, but organizers of the march placed the death toll closer to 40. Another 32 protesters were killed in Chad’s second-largest city, Moundou, according to an official in the city’s morgue. These demonstrations followed the military decision to delay elections for another two years
Truss Fall/Truss the Process: Back when the queen died (hard to believe, I know, but she’s dead) the Brits had the decency to wait until her corpse was cold before crowning the new king. After her resignation yesterday, Liz Truss is not getting the same treatment, as names are already being floated to replace her, including the man she initially replaced, Boris “Bed-Head” Johnson. The former Prime Minister/economically illiterate Truss is eligible for a taxpayer-funded annual allowance of ~$130,000 for the rest of her life, so it’s not all bad news I guess
The Lakers are bad & Taylor Swift dropped another album & McDonalds will start selling Krispy Kreme donuts at select locations. This country wants so badly to ignore that things are coming apart at the seams. We’re being inundated with sports and entertainment news to distract us while the world burns, so find your distraction and enjoy it while you can