NBC News on Monday began referring to the Iraq conflict as a civil war, adopting a phrase that President Bush and many other news organizations have avoided.
Matt Lauer said on the "Today" show that "after careful consideration, NBC News has decided that a change in terminology is warranted, that the situation is Iraq with armed militarized factions fighting for their own political agendas can now be characterized as civil war."
The network's cable news outlet, MSNBC, drummed the point home repeatedly by using the phrase "Iraq: The Civil War" on the screen.
There are different criteria for defining a civil war. Webster's New World College Dictionary defines it simply as "war between geographical sections or political factions of the same nation." Some political scientists use a threshold of 1,000 dead, which the current conflict has long since passed.
There are more conservative definitions. The Web site GlobalSecurity.org, which provides information on defense issues, said five criteria must be met: the contestants must control territory, have a functioning government, enjoy some foreign recognition, have identifiable regular armed forces and engage in major military operations.
I am so fucking tired of watching these news outlets carefully choosing their words and trying to make sure they do not say anything that can be used to label them liberal or anti-Bush. With FOX news ready to villify anybody who dares speak the truth about what is happening in Iraq, the other news channels are acting like turtles too afraid to stick their heads out of their shells for fear of getting them bitten off.
Well now finally NBC news has stated the obvious, and though it is much too late, I do applaud them for being the first to finally stick their middle finger in the direction of the White House and their surrogate FOX News.
Iraq is in a Civil War! So now that we have said the words what does that mean?
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Depends on what the definition of "is" is.
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