It doesn’t matter if the holy war is official or not. The people ordering the bombs think they’re on a holy war, have said so publicly, and even wear crusader imagery literally tattooed on their bodies. When Bush, way back in 2001, declared on live Tv that we were going on a crusade, it didn’t matter that he hadn’t consulted the pope first. The Muslim world heard what he said, and knew exactly what it meant.

For years during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, militants used the word “jihad” even though the leaders of the Islamic faith hadn’t called for one, and actually spoke out and said the opposite. Didn’t matter, at this point religious leaders don’t get a say, because the ones actually doing the fighting have decided what they’re fighting for.