Free Republic

After Japan’s devastating surprise attack against the US at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, concerns arose over the ability of a seriously wounded American Navy to defend our country against a future attack, let alone challenge Tokyo’s control of the Pacific. Over the following three and a half years, those concerns proved unwarranted as we became very effective at taking the fight to the Japanese, who—in launching their military strategy—never again achieved the tactical surprise they did at Pearl Harbor. While the resolve and courage of our fighting forces was a factor, so too was the fact we had—unbeknownst...

SNIPPET: "Federal law enforcement officials call it a front for Hamas terrorists which "has been under numerous investigations for financing and [providing] aid and comfort to bad orgs and members." SNIPPET: "In gearing up for the 2010 Census, the General Services Administration (GSA) leased office space throughout the country. One location is a 6,654 square foot section of a two-story building on Edsall Road in Alexandria, Va. owned by the Dar Al-Hijrah mosque. The United States government is spending $582,000, or about $23,000 per month, to lease the space from November 2008 through the end of this year. SNIPPET: "The...

Al Qaeda High - Alleged Bush Assassin a Graduate of Local Saudi Madrassa Stella Jatras, who normally follows the Balkans for us, reports on efforts to establish yet another Saudi Madrassa outside Washington, D.C. Nestled snuggly in the Northern hills of Virginia, lies the Islamic Saudi Academy (ISA), better known as Al-Qaeda High. ISA's most notable graduate - so far - is Ahmed Omar Abu Ali. Ali was arrested recently for plotting to assassinate President Bush. Ali was born in Houston and later moved to Falls Church, Va., where he was valedictorian of his class at ISA. After graduation, a...

The Islamic Saudi Academy in Alexandria is an outpost of militant Islam, say critics who point out that the school's 1999 valedictorian is charged with joining al Qaeda and plotting to assassinate President Bush. Two other persons connected to the academy also have been linked to terrorism-related cases, and a U.S. senator has asked the Justice Department to investigate the school. The school was founded in 1984, primarily to serve children of the Saudi diplomatic corps. Today, the student body is more diverse, with nearly three dozen countries represented, but much of the funding still comes from the Saudi government....

Virginia man charged in alleged plot to assassinate Bush By MATTHEW BARAKAT Associated Press Writer ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) -- A former high school valedictorian in Virginia was charged Tuesday with conspiring to assassinate President Bush and conspiracy to support the al-Qaida terrorist network. Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, 23, a U.S. citizen, made an initial appearance Tuesday in U.S. District Court. He claimed that he was tortured while detained in Saudi Arabia since June of 2003 and offered through his lawyer to show the judge his scars. The indictment said that in 2002 and 2003 Abu Ali and an unidentified coconspirator...

BALTIMORE - A man described as a high-ranking Hamas operative was freed Monday on a $1 million bond, but must appear before a federal grand jury in Chicago probing the Palestinian militant group's financing. Ismael Selim Elbarasse was released during a closed-door detention hearing in federal court in Baltimore, said Vickie LeDuc, a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney's office. His attorney said he was traveling to his home in Annandale, Va. Elbarasse had been arrested after officers pulled him over Aug. 20 just west of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge after spotting his wife filming the structure with a video camera....

BALTIMORE The wife of a Virginia man detained by federal authorities after she was seen videotaping the Bay Bridge in Maryland says her husband isn't a terrorist. Boushra Elbarasse tells W-N-U-V-T-V of Baltimore that she was videotaping the bridge as part of her family's vacation. She says -- quote -- "They mistreat us. We're just a normal family." Ismail Elbarasse isn't charged with a crime. He's being held as a material witness in a Chicago racketeering case involving members of the militant group Hamas. He's expected to ask to be released, but federal prosecutors will seek to keep him in...

More Alleged Hamas Operatives Linked to DC-Area Think Tank By Scott Wheeler CNSNews.com Staff Writer August 26, 2004 (CNSNews.com) - The Virginia man recently detained after his wife was seen videotaping Maryland's Chesapeake Bay Bridge has ties to a Springfield, Va., Muslim think tank that is an alleged front for the terrorist organization Hamas. The think tank, the United Association for Studies and Research (UASR), is located just fourteen miles from the U.S. Capitol. Counter terrorism analyst Peter M. Leitner has described UASR as one of the "phony organizations that are really terrorist cells [and] part of the international terrorist...

Though his attorneys claim he's harmless, Virginia resident Ismail Selim Elbarasse, now in federal custody, for years has been tied to stateside financing of Middle East terrorist organization Hamas. The Annandale, Va., resident was taken into custody Friday after two off-duty Baltimore County police officers saw him videotaping the Chesapeake Bay Bridge from a sport utility vehicle, said Marcia Murphy, a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney's office in Baltimore. Elbarasse was not charged with a crime but was detained on a material witness warrant issued by the U.S. attorney's office in Chicago. Officials there want him to testify before a...

senior Hamas member, Ismael Selim Elbarasse of Annandale, Virginia, was arrested in the US on Friday as he videotaped the Chesapeake Bay Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland, US officials said. The man has long been suspected by authorities of having financial ties to the Hamas, the US attorney's office in Maryland said. On Friday two police officers on the Bay Bridge spotted Elbarasse, who appeared to be of Middle Eastern descent, in a sport utility vehicle videotaping the bridge, authorities said. Once Police apprehended the suspect, they discovered that Elbarasse was on an FBI terrorist watch list. He was also wanted...

August 24, 2004, 4:51 PM EDT BALTIMORE -- A man described as a high-ranking Hamas operative was arrested after he drove across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge while his wife videotaped close-up shots of the structure, authorities said Tuesday. Ismael Selim Elbarasse, long suspected by authorities of having financial ties to the Palestinian extremist group, was taken into custody last week and held as a material witness in an unrelated terrorism case in Chicago.

A man described by federal authorities as an assistant to a top Hamas operative was arrested by Maryland Transportation Authority police after he was seen videotaping the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, authorities said Tuesday. Ismael Selim Elbarasse of Annandale, Va., suspected by federal authorities of having financial ties to the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, was arrested Friday after two off-duty Baltimore County police officers saw him taping the bridge from a sport utility vehicle, said Marcia Murphy, a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney's office in Baltimore. Elbarasse was not charged with a crime but was detained on a material witness warrant...

A man described as a high-ranking operative of the Palestinian militant group Hamas was arrested last week as he videotaped the Chesapeake Bay Bridge in Virginia, and he then was held as a material witness in an unrelated case, authorities said. Ismael Selim Elbarasse of Annandale, Virginia, long suspected by authorities of having financial ties to the Palestinian extremist group, was taken into custody Friday, the U.S. attorney's office in Maryland said Monday. He was held as a material witness in a Chicago terrorism case. Elbarasse made an initial appearance in Baltimore's federal courthouse Monday before U.S. District Magistrate...