Islamic State a threat to the world

It would be imprecise to refer to the terrorist "regime" led by its self-proclaimed Khalifah "Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi" as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS). In June the dreaded leader removed the geographical restriction of his "state", replacing it with just "Islamic State" and commanding Muslims across the world to pledge loyalty to the new "ISIS".

The cold-blooded Islamic State jihadists released a video on Wednesday showing the beheading of a man, resembling freelance American journalist James Foley, who was kidnapped in Syria two years ago. At the end of the video footage, the jihadists threaten to kill another American journalist if the US-led strikes against them don't stop.

Although al-Qaida led by Osama bin Laden, who was killed in a US strike in 2011, claimed to lead the Islamic "war against the US", the outfit didn't receive much assistance from the Muslim world. Neither Shi'ite Iran and Syria, which the US considers its "real enemies", nor Sunni-led Muslim countries, showed much support for al-Qaida. As a result, its leaders spent most of their days hiding in places ranging from East Africa to Afghanistan before bin Laden's death.