ISIS Takes Aim At Europe

Twenty-one Egyptians beheaded on the shores of Libya by ISIS.  On to Rome, they say. We’ll look at North Africa, Europe and the ISIS threat.

They’re meeting at the White House today in a summit on violent extremism.  Europe has recently had a front row seat on the issue. The Charlie Hebdo killings in Paris.  Seventeen dead.  The killings this weekend in Copenhagen.  And right across the water, in North Africa – Libya – ISIS video of 21 Coptic Christians being beheaded on the shore of the Mediterranean.   With an ISIS killer pointing a bloody dagger north, vowing to “take Rome.”  It’s grotesque theater.  And a vivid threat.  This hour On Point:  Europe and ISIS, from North Africa to Copenhagen
-- Tom Ashbrook

Jytte Klausen, professor of international cooperation at Brandeis University. Author of "The Cartoons That Shook the World" and "The Islamic Challenge: Politics and Religion in Western Europe."

Issandr El Amrani, project director for North Africa at the International Crisis Group. (@boumilo)

Bruce Hoffman, professor and director of the Georgetown University Center for Security Studies. Author of "Anonymous Soldiers." (@hoffman_bruce)

Thomas Hegghammer, director of terrorism research at the Norweigna Defence Research Establishment. Author of "Jihad in Saudi Arabia," "Al-Qaeda In Its Own Words" and "The Meccan Rebellion." (@hegghammer)

New York Times: U.S. Intensifies Effort to Blunt ISIS’ Message -- "With the Islamic State and its supporters producing as many as 90,000 tweets and other social media responses every day, American officials acknowledge they have a tough job ahead to blunt the group’s digital momentum in the same way a United States-led air campaign has slowed ISIS’ advances on the battlefield in Iraq and, to a lesser extent, in Syria."

TIME: ISIS Sets Sights on Europe in Latest Beheading Video -- "The video released by the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) on Sunday showing the killings of 21 Egyptian Christian workers, appeared to be directed at the Christian world, the continent of Europe and gloried in its brutality. It was filmed in Libya on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. The video made no reference to the other powers in Libya’s civil war, in which both of the country’s rival governments claim to be combating ISIS."

Newsweek: Italy Ready to Lead Coalition in Libya to Prevent ‘Caliphate Across the Sea' -- "While it is unclear what action any potential international coalition would take in regard to Libya, French president Francois Hollande and Egyptian president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi today called for an urgent UN Security Council (UNSC) meeting to discuss how to halt the terror group’s advance in the country. Following the ousting of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, Libya has slid into civil war with two governments operating separately in the west and east of the country, allowing radical Islamist groups such as ISIS and the al-Qaeda-linked Ansar al-Sharia to capitalise on the power vacuum."