Like the rest of the world, the U.S. government appeared to have been taken aback last month when Mosul, Iraqs second largest city, fell to an offensive by jihadis of the Islamic State that triggered the collapse of five Iraqi army divisions and carried the extremists to the threshold of Baghdad. Monday, June 30, 2014 - militants from the al-Qaida-inspired Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) celebrate the group's declaration of an Islamic state, in Fallujah, 40 miles (65 kilometers) west of Baghdad, Iraq.