After a gap of almost six weeks, the Islamic State (IS) released a video yesterday showing, along with the brutal simultaneous beheading of almost two dozen Syrian pilots, the head of American citizen Peter Kassig after it was severed from his body. Standing above his head was the British executor, known as "Jihad John," who killed other American and British citizens, challenging the US to send ground troops into Iraq and Syria.

The Islamic State (IS) has begun a new offensive on the Yazidis and Kurds in Northern Iraq. While reports are still tentative, it seems that IS has launched a three-pronged incursion into areas that they were previously expelled from by Peshmerga fighters and Iraqi security forces.

The current situation in Syria and Iraq is presenting a much different challenge for the West and the Middle Eastern region than what it has experienced in the aftermath of 9-11 through the present.

Last night, President Obama laid out a plan to take on the Islamic State (IS), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Sham (ISIS). While there is much to applaud in this speech, there are also serious gaps and challenges in the President’s plan that endanger the success of the effort.

With the American intervention against Islamic State (IS) forces in Iraq, the internet has been flooded with threats against the US. On social media, jihadists are promising that "Iraq is a grave" for U.S. forces, posting pictures of dead soldiers, and calling on "Muslim brothers there to start firing and burning every possible target."

How worried should Americans and other Westerners be? Just as importantly, does the situation in Iraq affect US security? In other words, is this our problem or their problem?