President Obama has confirmed the death of U.S. aid worker Peter Kassig, an ex-Army Ranger. He was captured by militants of the ISIS organization, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, while delivering medical supplies in Syria. He is the fifth Western hostage, the third American beheaded in less than three months. In a video released by the Islamic State that went viral on the internet, several Syrian soldiers were publicly slain. Kassig’s severed head is seen in the video.

Kassig was held captive by ISIS, for about a year. After seeing the devastation that is the Middle East, he decided that he must relieve the suffering taking place there. He used his medical training as an EMT to form an aid organization to those in the rebel-held sections of the Middle East.

ISIS is a rebel organization that has seized lands violently stretching from north Syria to central Iraq. They annexed an area roughly the size of Belgium. They are extremely ruthless and kill even humanitarians aiding them, just to make a point. They are so misguided by those in power,that they kill people of their own religion.

ISIS wants a “caliphate,” or basically an enormous Islamic state that encompasses all Muslims from across the world. They want to overthrow the existing governments of unstable and Muslim-dominated nations to establish their own state.

Most people do not acknowledge how lethal the group is. Fawaz Gerges, a Middle East expert reported to CNN that, “ISIS is the most dangerous group to emerge from the Middle East in the past few hundred years.”

This group is looking for power, not a religious utopia. Residents in the Middle East report that suicide bombings and mass beheadings have become the norm. Thousands of people have been publicly executed and left in the streets after opposing the tyrannical rule.

The thought of a religious group performing such acts of violence is absolutely outrageous. President Obama states, “ISIS speaks for no religion.” However, several experts on the subject state otherwise. Brother Rashid, a Muslim who converted to Christianity and now hosts an Arabic-language television show, tells Obama, “with all due respect,” that he is wrong: ISIS is definitely Islamic and follows in the footsteps of Mohammed.

Obama and his cabinet insist that we are not at war, but rather leading a “counter-terrorism campaign.” We are inevitably getting dragged into another war, another war like Vietnam, or Operation Iraqi Freedom. No official “ground troops” in the Middle East, nonetheless American boots are on the ground. With an organization like the Islamic State, the troops of the United States of American are definitely in harms way.