In an execution video released on August 18, the Islamic State, formerly known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, threatened to “drown all [Americans] in blood,” if the United States continues its airstrikes in Iraq. Titled “A Message to America,” the video depicted the beheading of American photojournalist James Foley, and threatened that he would be one of many Americans the terrorist group will target.

Islamic State militants, known for their savagery and spectacular takeover of most of northwestern Iraq, faced their biggest setback when the U.S. commenced targeted airstrikes against them. They have also been severely pushed back by U.S.-supported Peshmerga fighters from Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region, and by Iraqi troops under the new prime minister-designate, Haider al-Abadi.

But the most significant contribution came from the United States.

The terrorists used Foley to try to effect a U.S. withdrawal from Iraq. In the video that was uploaded on YouTube before being taken down because of its sadistic nature, Foley was coerced to pronounce this declaration before his head was sawn off: “I call on my friends, family and loved ones to rise up against my real killers, the U.S. government.” His forced declaration continued, as he said that the United States had “effectively put the last nail in my coffin.”

The video also showed another journalist, Steven Sotloff, whom the Islamists said would be next if the U.S. continues its airstrikes.

The message by the Islamic State is clear: In the threatening words of Foley’s masked killer, “Any attempt by you, Obama, to deny Muslims’ liberty and safety under the Islamic caliphate will result in the bloodshed of your people.”

Such threats from Islamic State terrorists against America aren’t new. In a video interview posted on August 7—the day President Obama authorized airstrikes against the militants—a spokesman for the Islamic State warned, “We will humiliate [U.S. troops] everywhere, God willing, and we will raise the flag of Allah in the White House.” Almost two months ago, the same Islamists threatened, “If America attacks Iraq, every American embassy in the world will be exposed and attacked with car bombs.”

But there were many other preceding threats. The leader of the Islamic State, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, gave this chilling warning to U.S. officials soon after he was released from detention in 2009: “I’ll see you guys in New York.”

The Islamic State’s history of belligerence and beheadings go all the way back to its founder Abu Musab al Zarqawi. Zarqawi, as we wrote in our September 2014 Trumpet, started his organization with support from al Qaeda and Iran. He rose to infamy by his execution of American engineer Nick Berg in 2004 as a purported response to U.S. invasion of Iraq and the Abu Ghraib prison scandal. Since then, the Islamic State has been on a relentless beheading spree, executing both the great and the small, men and women, old and young.

When we look at the whole picture, we see that the Islamic State has always been a brutal terrorist organization. We also see that America has not done much to fight this evil. In fact, under the United States’ watch, these militants have grown worse. Zarqawi’s organization was dealt some huge setbacks during the Iraq War, but it remained alive. When the Syrian civil war began, it thrived with little resistance from the West.

If we fail to fight evil, evil will overwhelm us, as it is overwhelming Iraq and the United States. There is a way to win against evil, and time will prove it to be the only way. Trumpet executive editor Stephen Flurry discussed that way in his article “Overcoming Evil.”