ISIS Expands Beyond Syria and Iraq

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ISIS is implementing its expansion plans.Since the rise of ISIS last year and its rapid seizure of Syrian and Iraqi territory—including the stunning takeover of Mosul, the terror group continues to expand its reach beyond its central geographic base.

According to In HomeLand Security In the past few days, ISIS has allegedly carried out terror attacks in Jalalabad and Afghanistan, according to Afghan President Ashraf Ghani.ISIS

If this development wasn’t ominous enough, ISIS operatives executed two separate groups of Ethiopian Christians inside Libya. Since President Obama sent Congress his Authorization to Use Military Force (AUMF) back in February, the president has been preoccupied with securing a nuclear accord with Iran, while leaving others to deal with ISIS.

Just recently , Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff downplayed ISIS’s advance and the strong possibility that Islamic forces will take the Iraqi city of Ramadi in Anbar Province. “I would much rather that Ramadi not fall, but it won’t be the end of a campaign should it fall.” This is in the backdrop, all the while highlighting the significance of the oil rich city of Baiji in the north.

“Baiji is part of the Iraqi oil infrastructure,” Dempsey said Thursday. “Once the Iraqis have full control of Baiji, they will control all of their oil infrastructure, both north and south, and deny ISIS the ability to generate revenue through oil. So Baiji is a more strategic target. And that is why the focus right now is in fact on Baiji.”

This contradicts the statements of Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al Abadi, who while visiting the United States called the operations in Anbar a priority. During his visit, al Abadi chastised Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states for failing to give more support to his embattled country in its fight against ISIS.