The Investigative Project on Terrorism

Steven A. Emerson, Executive Director

5505 Connecticut Ave. NW No. 341

Washington, DC 20015<= b>

202-363-8602 - phone 202-966-5191 - fax

Email: = sae77@aol.com

After several years in= development, we are delighted to announce that the Investigative Project on Terrorism has officially launched its website: http:/= /www.investigativeproject.org/ . It is designed as a one-stop sho= pping service on counter-terrorism and militant Islam for law enforcement, government agencies, Congress, the media and the general public.

It is the first and on= ly comprehensive counter-terrorism news website that includes breaking news, profiles of militants and apologists, information about radical groups, original source documents and an unparalleled section of audio and video clips of militant speeches and rallies. Our data bas= e of counter-terrorism cases is the largest in the world. Yesterday we broke the story of the letter Congressman Pete Hoekstra and Congresswoman Sue Myrick = sent to the Department of Justice protesting the decision by the Department of Justice to co-sponsor an event with the Islamic Society of North America, an un-indicted co-conspirator in the Hamas case in= Texas. We have a= lso been providing daily blogs of this trial, probably considered the most important terrorist financing trial ever held.

A blog was posted today by Jeff Breinholt, a senior official at the Department of Justice and its top expert on Islamic terrorist groups (currently on leave), who wrote on The Counterterrorism Blog as follows:

Some= times without us knowing it, legal standards change suddenly. It happened today, = when the Investigative Project on Terrorism launched its public (and free!) websi= te. I was fortunate enough to receive an advance demonstration of it last week, and came away stunned. Information that has = been questioned, sometimes through accusations about the motives of the messenge= rs, is now available to everyone. Anyone with access to the Internet can now see and hear audio and video recordings of Islamic American leaders making statements that have frequently been denied. The truth can sometimes be inconvenient. I predict that, in some future judicial proceeding, August 29, 2007 will be recognized as the moment when those legally charged with the r= esponsibility of “due diligence” and knowing the details of the Islamic threa= t to our institutions – journalists, academics, bankers, and government officials - will no longer be able to claim plausible deniability. Steve Emerson and his staff, led by Michael Fechter, = have performed an amazing public service.

I want to thank those = of you who have enabled us to make this happen. But I also want to appeal to you f= or additional resources. The website requires a full time staff of at least 5 researchers and writers to maintain and update it with the latest investiga= tive stories, documents, video clips. etc.

It is not cheap to do this. We need to raise at least $300,000 annually. This number is on = top of our operating budget of several million dollars that we must also raise. Your support is critical to our survival. As you know, we take no fun= ds from the government, from any foreign sources, or from any religious or political groups.

Our tax deductible foundation is called the Investigative Project on Terrorism (IPTF). Checks = can be mailed to the Investigative Project on Terrorism, 5505 Connecticut Ave. NW, # 341, Washington, DC 20015. Or you can go to our website (Investigativeprojec= t.org) and click on the "Donate" link on the left.

On our first day alone= , we got more than 250,000 hits. To maintain this site properly, we need to constantly add new information, analyze pr= imary documents, post new videos and transcripts, prepare dossiers on groups and break new stories.

I am very proud of our= staff that put this together, working 7 days a week for more than 2 years alone on this project. I hope I can count on you to give generously to help th= is site become the most important counter-terrorist website on radical Islam on the entire web. Your support of our organization in general is just as important. It is the best investment in our security you could ever make.

With Best Wishes,

Steven Emerson<= span style=3D'color:black'>