I understand that a lot of prople (most?) think that the Islamic Caliphate is pretty much a joke when it comes to being a threat to their Arab neighbors, much less to the American homeland. I am reminded of the staure of another evil, the Nazis, which were considered pretty much a joke in the early 30's when they were accruing power. It was business as usual around the world. 15 years later there were maybe 50 million dead people, mostly due to ignoring this budding evil.

If I was any government official in the middle east, I would be throughly preoccupied with this, but maybe that's just me being an old fuddy duddy.