Ask former President Barack Obama who in 2014 ordered a major counter-terrorism operation directed against the Islamic State under the doctrine of Responsibility to Protect (R2P)

The counter-terrorism mandate is a fiction. America is the Number One "State Sponsor of Terrorism".  

The US has supported Al Qaeda and its affiliated organizations including ISIL for almost half a century since the heyday of the Soviet Afghan war. 

In 2014 President Obama launched  a "counter-terrorism campaign" allegedly directed against The Islamic State (ISIL, ISIS-Daesh).

It was an outright act of war disguised as a fake counter-terrorism operation.

It consisted  in providing a justification for the extensive bombing of Iraq and Syria, largely targeting residential areas and civilians.  

In turn, ISIS-Daesh was covertly supported and funded by the U.S. and its allies including Israel.  

Israel was directly involved in President Obama's "counter-terrorism" bombing raids directed against Syria, while also supporting Al Qaeda and ISIS mercenaries out of the Golan Heights. 

Since 9/11,  under various acronyms "The Islamic State has gone Global". 

The Islamic State is not limited to the Middle East and Central Asia. 

West Africa, Central Africa, Southeast Asia, Western Europe, Russia, Turkey, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, The Philippines, and many more. 

There are Islamic State related jihadist networks supported covertly by Western intelligence in all major regions of the World with the exception of Latin America. The Islamic States (Al Qaeda, ISIS et al) provides the U.S. as well as Israel the  justification of "Going after the terrorists".