A former US Air Force Airman — and apparently a member of the Honor Guard — flew to Turkey in an attempt to join ISIS in 2015.  Tairod Nathan Webster Pugh was arrested upon his return to the United States and was convicted last week on terrorism-related charges.

Pugh joins a long list of Americans who have either attempted to or successfully attacked US troops while motivated by their Islamic faith — five of whom were members of the US military:

• Soldier attempted to join ISIS (Hasan Edmonds, arrested 2015)
• Fort Hood attack thwarted, PFC Abdo, two life sentences (2011)
• Shots fired at Pentagon, other military bldgs (Marine Reservist Yonathan Melaku, 2010)
• Fort Hood massacre kills 14 (Army Maj Hasan, 2009)
• Fragging in Kuwait by Army Sgt Hasan Akbar (2003) (death sentence on appeal)

Besides Pugh, at least eleven other incidents have been recorded in which non-military members (or veterans) have attempted to or successfully killed US troops, most in the US itself:

• Fort Riley attempted car-bombing (John Booker, 2015)
• Chattanooga recruiting center attack (Mohammad Abdulazeez, 2015)
• Execution-style attack thwarted (Abdirahman Sheik Mohamud, 2015)
• Pipe bomb attack thwarted (Jose Pimentel, 2011)
• Remote control airplane Pentagon attack thwarted (Rezwan Ferdaus, 2011)
• Seattle recruiting station attack thwarted (2011)
• Frankfurt airport attack kills 2 US Airmen (Arid Uka, 2011, life sentence)
• Baltimore recruiting center bomb thwarted (Antonio Martinez, 2010, 25-year sentence)
• Quantico attack by Raleigh jihadists thwarted (6 multi-decade prison sentences, 2009)
• Arkansas recruiting station attack by Abdulhakim Muhammad (2009, life without parole)
• Fort Dix attack thwarted (2007) (6 convictions, 4 life sentences)

Other cases remain open, including that of Army deserter Daniel Seth Franey, who faces weapons charges and has a similar ideological history as Pugh.

The common thread among every single one of these attacks or attempted attacks was religion. And, contrary to the asinine pontifications of Michael “Mikey” Weinstein, it wasn’t Christianity.

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