WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The fervor with which the U.S. government acted in
                  the Elian Gonzalez case has raised the ire of parents whose children are victims
                  of what the State Department calls "international abduction."

                  For seven and a half years, Maureen Dabbagh has tried to wrest her daughter
                  Nadia back from her former husband, a Syrian who took the 2-year-old child
                  and fled the United States during divorce proceedings. Nadia is now 10.

                  "I haven't seen her since she was 2," Dabbagh said. "I haven't seen a photo of
                  her since she was 2. I haven't talked to her since she was 2 ..."

                  Dabbagh doesn't mince words about how she feels about the U.S. Justice
                  Department's handling of the Gonzalez case:

                  "Sad, sad that ... why isn't that my child? Why not my child, is my child
                  expendable?" she said. "I'm a taxpayer ... that's my taxpayer's money ... can't
                  you help my baby?"

                  There are more than 1,000 cases of international abduction on file at the State
                  Department, and scores of the victims are meeting in Washington this week to
                  raise their voices. Many are critical of the U.S. government for its failure to bring
                  their children home.

                  "They've been kidnapped," said Michael Wildes, an immigration attorney. The
                  United States "can broker tremendous commercial deals, business negotiations,
                  as well as military installations," he said, "but yet we can't bring our children
                  back here?"

                  A higher priority, thanks to Elian?

                  But the federal government rejects the criticism.

                  "The Department of State places the highest priority on the welfare of children
                  who have been victimized by international abductions," said Phil Reeker, a State
                  Department spokesman.

                  Elian Gonzalez's case has put the focus on stories such as Joseph Cooke's
                  fruitless efforts to retrieve his children from Germany's foster care system.

                  In 1992, the children's mother took them on vacation with her to Germany.
                  While there, she checked herself into a mental health clinic. During her treatment
                  she placed the kids, 2-year-old Danny and 1-year-old Michelle, in the hands of
                  the German Youth Authority, which awarded custody to a foster family. The
                  German court never contacted the father in the United States.

                  Since then, Cooke has tried to get the children back. U.S. courts have awarded
                  him custody, but German courts have ignored the claim.

                  Publicity about the Cooke children led U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright
                  to raise the case with the German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer.

                  "It is a tragic, tragic situation, for the father and the whole family," Fischer said
                  while visiting in Washington this week, and he promised to review the case.

                  Gonzalez ruling key to families

                  But what if the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta rules against Elian's
                  father, Juan Miguel Gonzalez?

                  "It would just make it that much more difficult for the U.S. government, who
                  has always been able to insist on the return of its nationals, to continue to be able
                  to do so," said Paul Virtue, a former INS general counsel.

                  So for now the families are gathering in Washington and seizing the moment.
                  They're showing their numbers and stating their case.