Abu Khalid Abdul-Latif (pictured), 33, of Seattle, and Walli Mujahidh, 32, of Los Angeles, were arrested and charged with plotting to attack a Seattle-area military enlistment office with grenades and machine guns, according to the U.S. Justice Department.

The plot was uncovered when an acquaintance approached by Abdul-Latif to join the plot instead told the Seattle Police about the plan. Referring to the shootings at Fort Hood, Texas, Abdul-Latif told the informant, "If one person could kill so many people, three attackers could kill many more." The motivation? Retaliation for the alleged crimes committed by U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan.

Abdul-Latif developed an extensive plan of attack on the military center, three miles south of downtown Seattle, and noted he wanted to attack people in the military, not civilians, the complaint said. He expressed little concern about dying in the planned assault, it added.

The men appeared in a Seattle federal court to hear the charges, with a preliminary hearing set for July 7. A guilt conviction could put them in prison for life. [Reuters, mugshot via Washington State Department of Corrections via Seattle Post-Intelligencer]