Anthony L. Hall is a descendant of the Turks & Caicos Islands, international lawyer and political consultant - headquartered in Washington DC - who publishes his own Internet Weblog at www.theipinionsjournal.com offering commentaries on current events from a Caribbean perspective

It is a little known fact, however, that, besides risking humiliating legacies, unpopular presidents attract legions of would-be assassins. And though it’s incomprehensible that any of us in the Caribbean would ever contemplate assassinating our leaders -- no matter how much we despise them -- Americans are routinely arrested for threatening (and plotting) to kill their presidents. On Wednesday, for example, a young boy was charged with a federal crime for sending two e-mails threatening to kill Bush. And, this just happened to be the day that Ahmed Abu Ali, another of Bush’s would-be assassins, was sentenced to 30 years in prison for conspiring to assassinate him and conduct other terrorist attacks in the United States. And this coincidence was made even more curious by solemn tributes yesterday marking the 25th anniversary of John Hinckley’s attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan.

Upon first impression, what made Abu Ali’s case noteworthy was his Islamic faith and declared allegiance to al-Qaeda. Nonetheless, a great deal of controversy surrounded his arrest and conviction. Abu Ali was initially arrested in June 2003 in Saudi Arabia by Saudi authorities acting at the behest of American prosecutors. However, he was detained for over a year without being charged with any crime. And, during that time, he claimed that Saudi police tortured him systematically – often in the presence of American diplomats.

Yet, as controversial as Abu Ali’s claims were, they were not the most controversial aspect of his case. Because what made him the most controversial would-be assassin in U.S. history was the fact that he was an American who was educated in the ideology of hate for America just minutes from the White House in Washington, DC.

Abu Ali attended the Islamic Saudi Academy. This school, like others in America and hundreds around the world, is funded by the Saudi Royal family – purportedly close personal friends of President Bush’s family. But these are no ordinary schools. They are what President Musharraf of Pakistan called "breeding grounds for little bin Ladens": Madrassas! Therefore, especially in light of America’s so-called “war on terror”, this begs at least one salient question:

Does American freedom of education include allowing schools to teach religious hatred towards America?

After all, textbooks at these madrassas are replete with such anti-American lessons. Indeed, unlike every other high school in America, the primary objective of Abu Ali’s madrassa had little to do with humanities and sciences. Instead, it was to teach a literal interpretation of the Koran (the holy book of Islam) and the doctrine of Wahabism. And this doctrine is what inspires Islamic fundamentalists like Abu Ali to jihad (i.e., a holy war of global terror). Because Wahabists believe that all who do not conform to their fanatical religious practices are heathens and infidels who must be destroyed. And, in their eyes, no country is populated with more heathens and infidels than the United States of America.

Members of the Saudi Royal family are the world’s most ardent and influential devotees of Wahabism. And, even though they insist that Wahabists like bin-Laden are rare, they cannot deny that Saudi madrassas provide religious (and academic) justification for their fanatical hatred. For example, the primary textbook in Abu Ali’s school was called Monotheism, and it was issued by the Saudi Ministry of Education. The organizing thesis of this book is that Christians and Jews are the mortal enemies of Muslims, and it’s crystallized in one sentence on page 64 under the title "Judgment Day"; which reads:

“The Hour will not come until Muslims will fight the Jews, and Muslims will kill all the Jews.”

Abu Ali was the Valedictorian of his class.

I’m constrained to note that Christian students are not entirely exempted from similar fanatical indoctrination. But can you imagine a Christian school in Saudi Arabia or Iran (or even the bible belt of America for that matter) teaching children that it is their religious duty to kill Muslims? One wonders, therefore, why the United States government permits the training of Islamic terrorists in America. Because no matter what Michael Moore presumes about the relationship between the Bush and Saudi Royal families, George W. Bush does not appear to have a death wish.

Of course, anyone who has traveled to or around America since 9/11 knows that there are many contradictions in the phalanx of homeland security measures that have been instituted for our protection. (For example: screening bags on planes but allowing them on trains unchecked; fortifying buildings in DC and NYC but leaving nuclear plants virtually unguarded; and, lecturing President Musharraf about madrassas in Pakistan but ignoring madrassas that are flourishing right here in the U.S.A.) Therefore, perhaps a school for little bin Ladens - down the street from the White house - is just another controversial feature in this regard. Let’s just hope that Abu Ali was not only the best in his class but also the only one in his madrassa who actually paid any attention.