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Abu Muhammad al-Adnani, a spokes person for the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, issued an announcement this morning in the latest war of words between ISIS and the US. Al Adnani called on ISIS supporters to attack Americans and other citizens whose governments are conducting an air war in Northern Iraq and Syria.

In his weekly radio address on Saturday President Obama had a message for the Sunni rebel group saying, “Going forward, we won’t hesitate to take action against these terrorists in Iraq or in Syria. But this is not America’s fight alone. This isn’t America vs. ISIL. This is the people of that region vs. ISIL. It’s the world vs. ISIL.” The President also reiterated his pledge to not deploy a contingent of US ground troops to northern Iraq.

A British woman named Barbara Henning has made a public plea to ISIS to release her husband, Alan Henning, an aid worker, who may be the group’s next Western victim. Mr. Henning worked as cabbie in England before joining a group of volunteers aiding Syrian victims of war.

ISIS has been advancing steadily in Syria. The UK based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has reported that the rebels took over 60 Kurdish villages in a very short span of time. Meanwhile in just a couple of days, an unprecedented number of Syrian refugees have fled across the border to Turkey according to the UN. The numbers range from 70,000 to 130,000, which would make it the largest displacement of Syrians since the war began. But some of the traffic is two-way. Apparently Kurdish fighters from Turkey have entered Syria to join the fight against ISIS.

GUEST: Reese Erlich, veteran freelance foreign correspondent who has traveled widely across the Middle East and Iraq in particular. He has written a number of books including, Conversations with Terrorists: Middle East Leaders on Politics, Violence, and Empire. His latest book is called Inside Syria: The Back Story of the Civil War and What the World Can Expect.