(CNN) -- Not long ago, the threat of terrorist attacks against the United States boiled down to two words: al Qaeda.

But this week's U.S. airstrikes against al Qaeda offshoots show the President is playing whack-a-mole against a new generation of terrorists.

The attacks Tuesday inside Syria came in three waves and targeted ISIS, the Khorasan Group and, apparently, al-Nusra Front.

The groups share a similar ideology. But there are key differences. Here's how each stacks up: - 보경

ISIS

What its name means:

The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. Some world leaders use the acronym ISIL, or the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant.

Airstrikes target al Qaeda-linked group Activist: Airstrikes won't eliminate ISIS President Obama's 'War on Terror 2.0' The Arab coalition against ISIS

But the group now calls itself just the Islamic State, believing it has already established a caliphate across Sunni parts of Syria and Iraq. - 현정

How it started:

Back in 2004, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi launched al Qaeda in Iraq. He later tried to ignite a sectarian war against Iraq's Shiite majority.

The new al Qaeda group was rebranded in 2006 as the Islamic State in Iraq. It would add "and Syria" to its name later.

The group exploited a growing perception among many Sunnis that they were being persecuted by Iraq's Shia-dominated government, starved of resources and excluded from a share of power - 순규

What its goal is:

ISIS has been trying to create an Islamic state across Sunni areas of Iraq and in Syria.

But it doesn't stop there, one former ISIS militant told CNN.

"The main and principal goal of the Islamic State that they tell their new members is to establish an Islamic state that will encompass the Arab world," the ex-ISIS fighter said. "And after that, we go to other countries."

The group also claims its leader has authority over 1.5 billion Muslims around the world. - 규홍

Who leads it:

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi took the reins of ISIS in 2010 at age 39 after the previous leader, Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, was killed in a joint U.S.-Iraqi operation.

Prior to taking over ISIS, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was part of al Qaeda in Iraq. He served four years in a U.S. prison camp for insurgents, at Bucca in southern Iraq, where he likely developed a network of contacts and honed his ideology.

He was released in 2009 and went to work. -조은

Why the U.S. is targeting it:

ISIS has been pretty vocal about wanting to attack Americans and other Westerners -- even though U.S. officials say ISIS fighters aren't a direct threat to the U.S. homeland right now./ 보경

"At this point, we have no information that ISIL is plotting an attack inside the United States," Matthew Olsen, director of the National Counterterrorism Center, testified to Congress last week./ 현정

The dangers, officials say, are to U.S. personnel and infrastructure in Iraq. There's also a risk of militants with U.S. or other Western passports potentially returning home and staging attacks./ 조은

A senior ISIS leader recently called for lone-wolf attacks in the United States and France -- two countries that have been conducting airstrikes against ISIS in Iraq.

"The best thing you can do is to strive to your best and kill any disbeliever, whether he be French, American or from any of their allies," the ISIS official said./ 규홍

"Rig the roads with explosives for them. Attack their bases. Raid their homes. Cut off their heads. Do not let them feel secure. Hunt them wherever they may be."

Inside the mind of an ISIS fighter./ 순규

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http://edition.cnn.com/2014/09/24/world/meast/isis-al-nusra-khorasan-difference/index.html?iref=allsearch