I am confident that by now, nearly every person in connection to the modern world is able to recognize the promontory acronym “ISIS” that has been broadcasted across the globe. It’s very mention yields terror, for mass violence, killings in the form of beheadings, merciless bombings, and widespread destruction characterize the four-letter word — an odd, yet truthful contradiction to something so seemingly diminutive size.

ISIS — an acronym that stands for Islamic State in Syria and Iraq — is a separatist, Jihadist, militant group bent on the successful eradication of Western influence in the Middle East and eventual establishment of an omnipotent and radical Sunni caliphate. In short, it's a political military machine whose values counter everything that the United States stands for. That being said, some may wonder, Why haven’t we stopped ISIS? A group with nothing but full steam ahead and inflated hubris surely cannot possess the force to strike fear into the hearts of the modern world? And yet, they have already done just that, and will continue to do so until stopped.

So what is this ISIS? What does it represent, and who are these people involved? They associate themselves neither with standard form of religion nor with established country. They recruit from across the globe. They act without recompense. ISIS is fighting authority, and somehow authority is getting the short end of the stick. Yet herein lies the potency of such a brilliantly crafted malignancy: they operate on their own terms. Ghosts among men with considerable force and influence.

Americans should care about ISIS because according to the laws of nature, a carnivorous and greedy appetite will not be satiated until it has devoured everything in its path. A whole body of water will not stop the advancement of an exclusive and intolerant assembly. The events seen on television and the Internet are not stagnant happenings confined to the pixels of a 24-inch screen. ISIS is a volatile threat that cares not for customs or borders and has established itself as a sovereign state on Syrian and Iraqi territory sans accordance to law and order. It bites the hand that nursed it from birth (the Muslim community) and rejects all those in opposition to their faction, claiming those who live outside their radical ideology are “non-believers.”

Imagine living in a world entirely controlled by fear tactics and the legitimate suppression of individual values. This group dismisses and destroys memories of past and present culture, not even caring for the individual allegiance from within, but solely the locomotive destruction of the whole. Americans should do more than care, they should worry about this coming storm.

America is playing the part of the sleeping giant whose awakening Japanese Admiral Isoruku Yamamoto feared after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941. We as a giant has been asleep for far too long. When will we wake up? Do events such as the beheading of American journalist James Foley, news of mass migration of young American and European youths joining in the ISIS crusade, the destruction of historical monuments and brutal murder need any more publicity?

We possess the aplomb and knowledge to stop this force, so long as we are not afraid. So long as we do not continue to watch as one by one countries fall as the tide rages on. Our fear should not cripple us, but instead embolden our minds and hearts. Our worry can be transformed into something else a firm desire to protect and defend our country and its citizens.