
Islamist  terrorists in Iraq and Syria have begun creeping toward neighboring  countries, sources close to the Islamic fundamentalists revealed this  week.
 
 The terrorists, who belong to The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria  [ISIS -- known as DAESH in Arabic] and are said to be an offshoot of  al-Qaeda, are planning to take their jihad to Jordan, Lebanon, the Gaza  Strip and the Sinai Peninsula -- after having already captured large  parts of Syria and Iraq, the sources said.
 
 The capture this week by ISIS of the cities of Mosul and Tikrit in  Iraq has left many Arabs and Muslims in the region worried that their  countries soon may be targeted by the terrorists, who seek to create a  radical Islamist emirate in the Middle East.
 
 According to the sources, ISIS leader Abu Baker al-Baghdadi  recently discussed with his lieutenants the possibility of extending the  group's control beyond Syria and Iraq.
 
 One of the ideas discussed envisages focusing ISIS's efforts on  Jordan, where Islamist movements already have a significant presence.  Jordan was also chosen because it has shared borders with Iraq and  Syria, making it easier for the terrorists to infiltrate the kingdom.
 
 Jordanian political analyst Oraib al-Rantawi sounded alarm bells  by noting that the ISIS threat to move its fight to the kingdom was real  and imminent. "We in Jordan cannot afford the luxury of just waiting  and monitoring," he cautioned. "The danger is getting closer to our  bedrooms. It has become a strategic danger; it is no longer a security  threat from groups or cells. We must start thinking outside the box. The  time has come to increase coordination and cooperation with the regimes  in Baghdad and Damascus to contain the crawling of extremism and  terrorism."
 
 The ISIS terrorists see Jordan's Western-backed King Abdullah as  an enemy of Islam and an infidel, and have publicly called for his  execution. ISIS terrorists recently posted a video on YouTube in which  they threatened to "slaughter" Abdullah, whom they denounced as a  "tyrant." Some of the terrorists who appeared in the video were  Jordanian citizens who tore up their passports in front of the camera  and vowed to launch suicide attacks inside the kingdom.
 
 Security sources in Amman expressed deep concern over ISIS's  threats and plans to "invade" the kingdom. The sources said that King  Abdullah has requested urgent military aid from the U.S. and other  Western countries so that he could foil any attempt to turn Jordan into  an Islamist-controlled state.
 
 Marwan Shehadeh, an expert on Islamist groups, said he did not  rule out the possibility that ISIS would target Jordan because it views  the Arab regimes, including Jordan's Hashemites, as "infidels" and  "apostates" who should be fought.
 
 The recent victories by ISIS terrorists in Iraq and Syria have  emboldened the group and its followers throughout the Middle East. Now  the terrorists are planning to move their jihad not only to Jordan, but  also to the Gaza Strip, Sinai and Lebanon.
 
 This is all happening under the watching eyes of the U.S.  Administration and Western countries, who seem to be uncertain as to  what needs to be done to stop the Islamist terrorists from invading  neighboring countries.
 
 ISIS is a threat not only to moderate Arabs and Muslims, but also  to Israel, which the terrorists say is their ultimate destination. The  U.S. and its Western allies need to wake up quickly and take the  necessary measures to prevent the Islamist terrorists from achieving  their goal.
 
 Failure to act will result in the establishment in the Middle East  of a dangerous extremist Islamist empire that will pose a threat to  American and Western interests.