In a country that has seen its fair share of terrorism in recent months, France is coming to terms with the June 26 horrific attack in the east of the country, close to Lyon.

At the time of publication, there is talk of a severed head covered in Arabic writing at the scene and black flags with Arabic writing reminiscent of the Islamic State flag.

Leading members of the cabinet sought to ease fears of further attacks by saying they had upped security at key locations around the country.

In the wake of terror attacks on Jewish locations, synagogues and schools now have armored personnel deployed at their gates.

The very fact that France was awash with reports that directly linked the incident with Islamist extremists, even though some officials said it was too early to draw conclusions, points to the fear that Islamic State and Al-Qaida have managed to instill fear in the general populous of Western Europe.

And that is a victory for the Islamists.

The fear factor alone is seen as a win for the extremists who are ripping apart the Middle East and eventually seek to establish a caliphate in Europe.

The sight of soldiers protecting European towns from a foreign, to-some-extent unknown enemy send Islamists into the streets of the Middle East firing guns into the air in celebration.

And now, seemingly, a decapitation in the West too: the transplanting to a new arena of the cruel execution tactics of Islamic State.

Only a week ago the U.S. State Department more or less accepted that Islamic State is winning the social-media war. This latest terror attack is yet further proof that Islamic State is also winning the psychological war.