On Wednesday night, US president Barack Obama reiterated his administration’s commitment to putting an end to ISIL’s/ISIS’ reign of terror in Syria, Iraq, and surrounding regions.

Obama pledged to “degrade and destroy” ISIL. Although the Sunni Jihadist group is commonly referred to as ISIS (Islamic State in Iraq and Syria), government officials commonly refer to it by its second name, ISIL (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant).

According to WCHS6, the “Levant” is “the historic name given to the entire region east of the Mediterranean from Egypt, east to Iran and to Turkey. U.S. officials use ISIL instead of ISIS to emphasize the group’s goal to expand its influence beyond the borders of Syria and Iraq.”