The US and much of the world have been rudely awakened to the fact that the group formerly known as Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant is both a dangerous terrorist organisation, and considerably more than that. The deadly reality of its capabilities and ambitions is captured in the latest title by which Isis styles itself: the Islamic State. It is a de facto government with evolving borders that seeks to impose its vision of society on the millions of people over whom it rules. And, as it has dramatically shown since the capture of the Iraqi city of Mosul in June, it seeks to expand its borders and the numbers subject to its control.
美國和世界大部分地區被這樣一個事實粗暴地喚醒：原先被稱為“伊拉克與黎凡特伊斯蘭國”（Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant，簡稱Isis）的組織，遠不止是一個危險的恐怖主義組織；它的致命實力和野心，反映在它給自己的最新封號上：伊斯蘭國(Islamic State)。這是個事實上的政府，有著仍在變化的邊界線，謀求將自己的社會愿景強加于自己統治的數百萬號民眾頭上。此外，這個組織還謀求擴張自己的邊界，擴大自己控制的民眾數量。自6月攻占伊拉克摩蘇爾以來，這一意圖已表露無遺。