Radical Islam Post 9/11: 'They Have Tentacles Everywhere'

Friday marked the anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks on America. Fourteen years after terror was unleashed on our shores, the threat posed by radical Islam continues to grow around the world.

According to CBN News Terrorism Analyst Erick Stakelbeck, al Qaeda and its affiliates are still plotting death against the enemies of Islam.

"Al Qaeda has actually expanded its reach since 9/11 and is present in more countries today than it was on 9/11 when we were attacked," Stakelbeck said.

Radical Islam is stronger and in more countries than ever before. CBN Terrorism Analyst Erick Stakelbeck tells us why.

Unlike in 2001, experts say the terror threat today is more pervasive, as terrorists -- often operating in small cells or as lone-wolves like the Boston Marathon bombers -- are driven to murder and mayhem in the name of Islam.

Stakelbeck says ISIS, unlike any other terror group, has mastered the call to jihad.

"ISIS, among the younger generation of jihadis, especially here in the West, ISIS is the cool thing," he explained. "They are so active on social media: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, they are everywhere, ISIS is a phenomenon."

That phenomenon continues to gobble up vast swaths of territory in the Middle East, leaving behind a reign of terror and tears.

"We're fleeing from ISIS and the Syrian regime," one refugee said. "Even before yesterday, ISIS entered our village so we had to flee."

Formed in 2013, ISIS has quickly become a virulent, wealthy, transnational terror organization that is constantly recruiting. And now a U.S. official told the BBC they're also using chemical weapons in Iraq and Syria.

"They have tentacles everywhere," said Robert Spencer, author of The Complete Infidel's Guide to ISIS. "People don't know that they are not just in Iraq and Syria, where they already control the territory the size of Great Britain."

"But because they claim to be the only legitimate government among Muslims all over the world, the caliphate, they also have territory in Libya and they have gotten the allegiance of other jihad groups in Nigeria, the Philippines, Yemen, all over the world," he said.

Remember when President Barack Obama referred to ISIS as the 'JV' team?

Well according to revelations this week by The Daily Beast intelligence officials were altering reports on ISIS to fit the president's assertion that the United States was winning the war against them and other terrorists in Syria and Iraq.

"He wants to give the portrayal that ISIS is on the run and that limited U.S. airstrikes are having a great effect on ISIS, but meanwhile the facts on the ground say otherwise," Stakelbeck said.

Meanwhile ISIS and al Qaeda remain deeply opposed to one another, with al Qaeda chief Ayman al Zawahiri just this week releasing a tape blasting ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

Still, the two groups remain committed to their mission against their enemies.

And, not to be outdone by ISIS, al Qaeda is out with its latest magazine, issued days before today's 9/11 anniversary. In it, the group calls for more lone-wolf attacks and assassination operations against some of America's richest men, including Bill Gates, the Koch brothers, and Warren Buffett.

As America remembers the horrific scenes of 9/11, authorities are still concerned about another major terror attack, as well as those 'lone-wolf' operations.

They also worry about the possibility that such attacks -- like those in Paris this year and elsewhere -- could become more and more common. And like 9/11, they would be carried out in the name of Islam.