IS IT CIVIL WAR YET?

Let’s look at a few statements made in the media of the last few days about the situation in Iraq. * There is no civil war in Iraq * The country could move toward civil war * Iraq’s Shiite prime minister, struggling to prevent widespread violence from sending Iraq into a full-fledged civil war * Sectarian strife is the cause of the latest violence in Iraq * Iraq is teetering on the brink of civil war. These are just a few of the statements we read every day about Iraq. A bunch of words that represent denial. What are the criteria for a civil war? Who is the scorekeeper? When does "sectarian strife" turn into a civil war?...

continua / continued