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Follow the money and immigrants

Brenda Walker of Berkeley, Calif., asks, "Why does America allow continued immigration from a culture that despises everything we treasure?" ("Muslim immigration," Letters, Saturday).

The answer can be found in that old adage,"When in doubt, follow the money." In 1998, a handful of Loudoun County citizens, myself included, opposed the construction of the Islamic Saudi Academy (ISA) that was to be entirely funded and controlled by the oppressive Saudigovernment.Our other concerns were: that the school compound would be the size of22 football fields; the loss of potentially more than $1 million in yearly tax revenues; subsidizing the children of rich Saudi diplomats;and addingnearly 100 school buses to our already overcrowded roads here in Loudoun County.

I have heard, and I certainly have no reason to doubt,that Prince Bandar (bin Sultan bin Abdul Aziz), chairman of the school's board of directors and dean of the D.C. diplomatic corps, has more than $70 million annually to spread around in this community and in Washington.

To build the school, a zoningexceptionwas made by the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors.This year, because the allotted time to begin construction had elapsed, theschool authoritieshad to ask for an extension. Althoughthe Loudoun County Zoning Board had another opportunity to stop the construction of the academy in light of the September 11 attacks, Saudi ties to terrorism, the funding of terrorist schools (madrassas) in Pakistan and sermonsof hatred for us in mosquesin our own country, the extension was approved.

The power of Saudi money to overrule American security concerns was exemplified by the statement of an American lawyer who supported building the academy: "You [as Loudoun County citizens] have no right to tell the Saudi government what they can or can't do in this county." I'm sure that George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and George Mason were rolling in their graves.

The bottom line is that my fellow Loudoun County citizensare more concerned with the Saudis buildingsoftball fields for their youngsters than they are for the security of our nation.