It is, actually, but only one side is fighting. After the Paris jihad attacks, the Islamic State issued a statement claiming responsibility for them, and warning: “Let France and all nations following its path know that they will continue to be at the top of the target list for the Islamic State and that the scent of death will not leave their nostrils as long as they partake in the crusader campaign, as long as they dare to curse our Prophet (blessings and peace be upon him), and as long as they boast about their war against Islam in France and their strikes against Muslims in the land of the Caliphate with their jets, which were of no avail to them in the filthy streets and alleys of Paris. Indeed, this is just the beginning. It is also a warning for any who wish to take heed.”

How can the West win when it doesn’t even acknowledge the nature of the war it’s in? Obviously the entire Islamic world is not fighting against the West, but the Muslims who are fighting us are framing the conflict as one between the West and Islam. Stoltenberg said: “It will take time, but we will win because our values are superior to (those) the extremists are standing for,” but neither he nor any other Western leader is actually confronting and opposing the values that the Islamic State stands for: to do so would take them into the criticism of Islam and Sharia, and there none of them dare to go.

“Paris attacks not a fight between west and Islam, says NATO chief,” AFP, November 15, 2015: