President George W. Bush had it wrong: the War On Terror is a complete misnomer; likely he was hoping to defuse accusations of bigotry by not describing the actual situation. In so doing, unfortunately, he clouded the issue almost beyond recognition because "terror" is such a nebulous thing. Our enemy is not "terror", it is Sharia. This is the single common thread which runs through all of the horrors, from sawing off the head of Daniel Perlman through 9/11 and on through Ft. Hood. Those who subscribe to Sharia are avowed enemies of all non-subscribers - meaning the rest of all mankind. Much as the Nazis had the goal of ethnic cleansing in mind, so do those who subscribe to Sharia.
The reason why there is so much trouble in France and other parts of the EU is primarily because they were stupid enough to permit enclaves in which Sharia is tolerated as "law". The establishment of such enclaves should never be permitted. Muslims should be permitted to honor their prophet and to otherwise freely practice their religion, but they must not be permitted to establish religious law.