Rezwan Ferdaus was arrested Wednesday in Massachusetts after he acquired the weapons and means to conduct a terrorist attack against the Pentagon.  The materials were purchased from/delivered by undercover US government agents.

A Massachusetts man was arrested Wednesday and accused of plotting to destroy the Pentagon and U.S. Capitol by attacking the buildings with large, remote-controlled aircraft armed with lethal amounts of explosives.

Interestingly, mainstream articles on Ferdaus fail to mention his religion — even though Ferdaus himself claimed to be motivated by it.  In fact, one article even went so far as to publicize the DA’s warning that 

“I want the public to understand that Mr. Ferdaus’ conduct, as alleged in the complaint, is not reflective of a particular culture, community or religion,” said Carmen Ortiz, U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts…

While never using the word “Islam,” they did mention his desire for “jihad” and goal to

deal a psychological blow to Americans, the “enemies of Allah,” by hitting the Pentagon, which he called “head and heart of the snake.”

He apparently made his goals fairly clear:

[Ferdaus] also allegedly created components for improvised explosive devices to be used against U.S. troops in Iraq, and the undercover workers told him his devices had killed Americans there. According to an FBI affidavit, he replied, “That was exactly what I wanted.”

Ferdaus makes at least the 10th planned attack on the US military by those who claim to be somehow motivated by their Islamic beliefs.

The list of attacks/attempted attacks on the US military by assailants apparently claiming some form of Islamic motivation includes four by US servicemembers:

• Fort Hood attack thwarted (PFC Abdo, 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)

And:

• 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)
• Baltimore recruiting center car bomb thwarted (Antonio Martinez, 2010)
• Arkansas recruiting station attack by Abdulhakim Muhammad (2009, life without parole)
• Fort Dix attack thwarted (2007) (6 convictions, 4 life sentences)

At the time of his arrest, the 26 year old Ferdaus was apparently living with his parents.