Forget The Hague international treaties, forget United States custody battle agreements, forget initial Finnish Supreme Court rulings, forget where the boys have been living all their lives, forget about the Finnish media hyperbole, forget about Parental Alienation Syndrome, forget that Outi’s uncle is in the Finnish parliament, forget that Outi lied about spousal abuse, forget that Outi tried to frame her ex-husband for harassment….

Forget all these facts and let’s discuss the most important thing: The contract that was made between Outi Koski & John Rogers before Outi took them to Finland.

This is all that matters in the custody battle. If there was parental abuse then this wouldn’t be the case, but there wasn’t. When Outi Koski discussed taking the children to Finland for summer vacation, it was verbally agreed between her and John Rogers that she would be returning the boys back home at the end of the summer. If this wasn’t stipulated in the contract, John Rogers would have never allowed the boys to visit Finland in the first place and this whole situation would never have happened. She elected to renege on this contract and the government’s *ONLY* responsibility should be to uphold the agreements in that contract.

In all of my political opinions, I believe that government involvement should be kept to a minimum and I feel no differently in this case. I strongly believe that government causes more harm than good and this custody battle just proves my case even further – if it wasn’t for the Finnish government’s involvement, the family wouldn’t have gone through this year-and-a-half ordeal. Sometimes I don’t know who I’m more upset with, Outi Koski or the Finnish government for dragging this thing out so long. Remember, it’s the Finnish government and court systems who, against the will of the boys, tossed them into an Oulu psychiatric hospital where they were only permitted to go outside once in six weeks and where their muscles were noticeably weaker because of their inactivity. In my opinion, if there is any permanent mental trauma put upon these boys, it’s more the fault of the Finnish government than Outi Koski.

Supporters of Ms. Koski have been arguing that the boys, aged 8 and 11 when they were abducted, should decide for themselves where they want to live. I couldn’t agree more, although 8 years old is kinda young don’t yah think? What if the youngest boy decided he just wanted to up and move to, let’s say, Ibiza “ would everyone still argue that it should be the boys’ decision? Or let’s say the father was from Afghanistan and while in Afghanistan, the boys state that they would like to remain there¦would they get the same kind of public support? I doubt it. The boys have stated that they would like live in Finland but return home to the states for the summer, however a few months prior they stated that they wanted to return to the U.S. permanently and a Finnish psychiatrist had affirmed that the boys’ may have been coached by their mother. Plus, if the Finnish government actually cared about opinions of the boys, they wouldn’t have locked them into a mental hospital against their will.

The reality is that Outi Koski could have got her kids to Finland, if they really wanted to be here and if she would have exhausted the legal methods first. But the selfish kidnapping was her downfall and now she may not see her children until their 18th birthday because I doubt John Rogers will allow them to visit Finland again after all this “ and Outi would most likely be arrested and charged for kidnapping the second she stepped foot in the United States. It’s a terrible shame that Outi put her beloved sons through this “ the typical dual custody in the United States was good enough for her I guess. And to make matters worse, the Finnish court system could have prevented this catastrophe and sent the boys home immediately, but they dragged it out and now the boys may have suffered permanent damage. Fortunately, the boys made it home for Christmas instead of spending it in psychiatric hospital.

I sincerely wish Alex, Jacob, John Rogers and the rest of the family the best of luck and hope they can put this nightmare behind them and get their lives back to normal.