ANOTHER MISUNDERSTOOD CLERIC, NO DOUBT - AT 5:14 P.M. ET:  From AP:

A New York City imam accused of lying to officials investigating a terrorism plot has been ordered held without bail.

Ahmad Afzali smiled and waved at relatives as deputy marshals led him out of federal court Monday in Brooklyn.

They always smile and wave.  It's their way of saying, "We didn't get you this time, but wait." 

His attorney, Ron Kuby, says he’ll seek bail for the 37-year-old Afzali on Thursday.

Oh, sigh.  I thought Ron had outgrown this kind of thing.  He is a former law partner of the late Marxist lawyer William Kuntsler.  (Amazing how the reds are drawn to Islamic fundamentalists.)  He recently has done TV, and a lot of radio for the local ABC station.  Apparently, with no air work, he's back on the radical-lawyer beat.

Afzali is an imam at a mosque in Queens. He was arrested Saturday in New York and charged with making false statements to the government.

The former NYPD informant was accused of lying to authorities about tipping off Najibullah Zazi about a terrorism investigation. Permalink

Sounds like a heck of a guy.  I'd want him in my neighborhood.  Wouldn't you?

COMMENT:  This is turning into an extensive investigation, focused in New York and Colorado.  Police have reportedly found backpacks and chemicals, consistent with a "Madrid-type" terror plot. 

We await - and it surely will come - some liberal pundit's explanation of the "root cause" of this plot - resentment toward America, the Bill of Rights, Ben Franklin and Don Rickles.

September 21, 2009