Rezwan Ferdaus was arrested Wednesday in Massachusetts after he acquired the weapons and means to conduct a terrorist attack against the Pentagon.\u00a0 The materials were purchased from\/delivered by undercover US government agents.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Interestingly,\u00a0mainstream articles on Ferdaus fail to mention\u00a0his religion — even though Ferdaus himself claimed to be motivated by it.\u00a0 In fact, one article even went so far as to publicize the DA’s warning that\u00a0 <\/p>\n
“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…<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
While never using the word “Islam,” they did mention his desire for “jihad”<\/a> and goal to<\/a><\/p>\n
deal a psychological blow to Americans, the \u201cenemies of Allah,\u201d by hitting the Pentagon, which he called \u201chead and heart of the snake.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
He apparently made his goals fairly clear<\/a>:<\/p>\n
[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.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Ferdaus makes at least the 10th planned attack on the US military<\/a> by those who claim to be somehow motivated by their Islamic beliefs.<\/p>\n
The list of attacks\/attempted attacks on the US military by assailants apparently claiming some form of Islamic motivation includes four by US servicemembers:<\/p>\n
\n
- Fort Hood attack<\/a> thwarted (PFC Abdo, 2011)<\/li>\n
- Shots fired at Pentagon<\/a>, other military bldgs (Marine Reservist Yonathan Melaku, 2010)<\/li>\n
- Fort Hood<\/a> massacre kills 14<\/a> (Army Maj Hasan, 2009)<\/li>\n
- Fragging in Kuwait<\/a> by Army Sgt Hasan Akbar (2003) (death sentence on appeal)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
And:<\/p>\n
\n
- Remote control airplane Pentagon attack<\/a> thwarted (Rezwan Ferdaus, 2011)<\/li>\n
- Seattle recruiting station attack<\/a> thwarted (2011)<\/li>\n
- Frankfurt airport attack<\/a> kills 2 US Airmen (Arid Uka, 2011)<\/li>\n
- Baltimore recruiting center car bomb<\/a> thwarted (Antonio Martinez, 2010)<\/li>\n
- Arkansas recruiting station attack<\/a> by Abdulhakim Muhammad (2009, life without parole)<\/li>\n
- Fort Dix attack thwarted<\/a> (2007) (6 convictions, 4 life sentences)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n