You can't just call something a war and make it so that people are willing to sacrifice for it, even if you think the threat is equivalent (or greater) to that

You can't just call something a war and make it so that people are willing to sacrifice for it, even if you think the threat is equivalent (or greater) to that of actual warfare. See the war on poverty and the war on drugs for an example. Do you really think Americans would have turned their lives upside down to win the war on poverty?