"Stand here on these streets and you will know this is civil war..."

Michael Ware, CNN, 28 November 2006

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Let's get straight to Baghdad and CNN's Michael Ware -- Michael.

MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Kyra, the curfew, as you said, has lifted. Nonetheless, this morning, as many as 39 executed bodies were found on the streets of the capitol. And in the town of Baquba, just north of Baghdad, 12 more bodies were found.

We also see the continuation of what's becoming a daily phenomenon here in this city, which is neighborhood mortar wars. Firing bombs at each other. We've seen another neighborhood in the capital hit. There's reports of at least three dead and 15 more wounded.

There's been some sporadic attacks on Iraqi police. There's at least one dead police officer as a result.

Essentially, this is a city that's almost socially paralyzed by fear. People dare not leave their homes. The education system is grinding to a halt. Teachers are not showing up at schools. Students aren't attending classes. Families aren't prepared to leave their homes.

And reading Iraqi weblogs has become the most illuminating exercise.

Electronic Iraq is an organization which -- which culls these things, has posted a number of these -- these references. We have people in suburbs saying, "My suburb is under attack now, I can hear gunfire. We've been under mortar attack for two days. God save us."

Someone else saying, "Our suburb is running out of ammunition. Please, come to our aid."

Another one saying, "Our suburb is breached. We will fight to the death."

That's what has become of Baghdad.

PHILLIPS: Michael Ware, interesting point is you give us these descriptions. All you can think about is, is there a civil war or not? Some journalists are coming a little more daring and saying, yes, there's a civil war going on here. Others not saying that.

King Abdullah doing an interview on ABC this week, saying, still, potential civil war. When exactly can you say as a journalist, as a politician, as an administration, all right, there's a civil war going on right here. This is how
you define it.

WARE: Well, put it this way, this is the way I define it. It's that anyone who still remains in doubt about whether this is civil war or not is suffering from the luxury of distance.

You stand here on these streets, you take shelter in these families' homes. You dare to try to go out and try to go to work or, indeed, shop at a marketplace and you will know that this is civil war.

There are already signs of what technically could be declared ethnic cleansing. The United Nations says entire neighborhoods are being disrupted to various degrees. Communities being split. I mean, we have areas that people of one sect cannot enter for fear of immediate execution by another sect.

You drive in a minibus on your way to work. Suddenly, there's a check point. If you're of the wrong faith, you are dead.

There's literally defensive fighting positions now built in some of these suburbs. And the Sadr City quarter of Baghdad, the Shia domain, where as much as half of the population lives, is essentially now a garrison, servicing outlying
Shia militia outposts as it wages its retaliatory strikes for the deadly multiple car bombing on Thanksgiving Day which saw 200 innocents slain in the streets in Sadr City.

If that's not civil war, if we don't have two sides of a nation going face to face, then, honestly, I don't know what is, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Michael Ware couldn't have put it more directly. Live from Baghdad, thanks.

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