Mosul, the second largest city in Iraq, fell today to jihadists from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), a group with long ties to al Qaeda. Parts of Kirkuk, ninety miles to the southeast, are under ISIS control and the fighting there continues. The implications for Iraq, for the region, and for U.S. national security are monumental.

The Washington Post reported Tuesday afternoon that with these developments ISIS “now controls what amounts to a state of its own across vast areas of Syria and Iraq.” While ISIS leadership has been disowned by Ayman al Zawahiri, the group remains committed to al Qaeda-style jihad. And al Qaeda’s senior leaders, while denouncing the ISIS presence in Syria, still endorse the group’s efforts inside Iraq.