MAP: ISIS Threatens Baghdad

MAP: The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria has gained footing in Iraq, threatening to topple the Iraqi government.

The fundamentalist Islamic militant group, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), which gained a foothold in unstable Syria, has recently pushed into Iraq. This past week ISIS overran two major Iraqi cities - Mosul and Fallujah - leaving the al-Qaeda affiliated group only 43 miles from Baghdad, home to the democratically elected government put in place after the ousting of Saddam Hussein. The United States has evacuated the American embassy in Baghdad as the ISIS insurgents begin an attempt to overrun the city.

The possibility of an ISIS-controlled Iraq threatens the progress made in the Iraq War of removing a terrorist-affiliated nation from the Middle East. In addition, ISIS would be free to overrun other Islamic nations like Jordan and, possibly, Saudi Arabia. If ISIS were to take Saudi Arabia, the effect on the world's petroleum trade would be crippling.Oil prices have already jumped 2 pounds per liter in the United Kingdom due to the ISIS insurgents. Saudi Arabia would also be a symbolic Islamic victory as the two holy cities of Islam - Medina and Mecca - are located in western Saudi Arabia along the Red Sea.

United States President Barack Obama is considering air strikes to stop the advance of the ISIS militants. However, United States intelligent officials have announced that it is "likely/probable" that the ISIS insurgents have gained control of the American-made Stinger missile. The Stinger missile is fired from the shoulder and can be used against enemy aircraft. The Stinger missiles may have been found by ISIS in one of the two weapons depots containing over over 400,000 weapons overrun by the insurgents.