In mid-June, a group of militant Islamic extremists launched a coordinated assault across northern Iraq, seizing large territories including major towns and cities. Iraqi security forces, in the face of the onslaught, were able to do very little in defense of their country. As a result, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki publicly appealed to the United States and the international community for assistance in the fight against the organization known as Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham, or ISIS.