How would you define a Civil War?

**The An-Jel** · 03-15-2007, 01:49 PM

Quote:

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A new Pentagon report said some elements of the war in Iraq fit the definition of civil war, but the term "does not adequately capture the complexity of the conflict."

The war in Iraq has been characterized by fighting between the majority Shiite Muslim sect and the minority Sunni Muslims, who were in power under Saddam Hussein's regime.

But the report also cites Shiite-on-Shiite violence; al Qaeda and Sunni insurgent attacks on coalition forces, and "widespread criminally motivated violence" as features that complicate the designation of civil war.

The quarterly report, which is mandated by Congress, said attacks and casualties documented for the last three months of 2006 are the highest since the war began four years ago.

The document, dated March 2, was released on Wednesday.

Whether the conflict in Iraq amounts to a civil war has been a topic of debate in recent months.

The congressional report cites declassified parts of the recently released National Intelligence Estimate in discussing the question.

It defines "the hardening of ethno-sectarian identities and mobilization, the changing character of the violence, and population displacements," as characteristic of civil war.

The report said that the warfare in Iraq has morphed from a "predominantly Sunni-led insurgency against foreign occupation to a struggle for the division of political and economic influence among sectarian groups and organized criminal activity."

Highest three-month toll since war began
It said the numbers of "attacks on and casualties suffered by coalition forces, the ISF [Iraqi security forces], and Iraqi civilians for the October-December reporting period were the highest for any three-month period since 2003."

The report said the attacks were concentrated in Baghdad and in Anbar, Salaheddin, and Diyala provinces, with a record 45 attacks a day in Baghdad. Compared with Baghdad, levels of attacks elsewhere were low.

"Coalition forces continued to attract the majority of attacks, while the ISF and Iraqi civilians continued to suffer the majority of casualties. Casualties from these attacks decreased slightly in January, but remained troublingly high."

The report said data collected includes "violence reported to or observed by coalition forces," so the report gives only a "partial picture of the violence experienced by Iraqis."

The report cites U.N. civilian casualty estimates reported by hospitals. "For the month of December, the U.N. estimated that more than 6,000 civilians were killed or wounded. This is about twice as many casualties as were recorded by coalition forces." (Read about earlier Pentagon report)

Other developments

One of Iraq's two vice presidents, Adel Abdul Mahdi, visited President Bush at the White House on Thursday. Mahdi, the target of a recent assassination attempt, thanked Americans for their support of Iraq, and Bush praised his courage and his "vision of peace and reconciliation." "We are not finished but we are doing better than expected" in the Baghdad security crackdown, he said.

U.S.-led coalition forces killed an Iraqi soldier and wounded three others during a Thursday morning raid targeting al Qaeda in Iraq network in Mosul, a U.S. military statement said. The possible "friendly fire" incident is under investigation. The military said ground forces and a helicopter came under small arms fire from armed men in two buildings. After the shooting was over, the armed men were identified as Iraqi soldiers, the statement said. In other raids Wednesday night and Thursday, coalition forces killed two suspected terrorists and detained 11 others.

An Iraqi appeals court upheld the death sentence of former Saddam Hussein deputy Taha Yassin Ramadan for his role in the 1982 killing of 148 men and boys in Dujail, Iraq, after a failed assassination attempt on Hussein. Ramadan, who was Hussein's vice president, will be hanged, according to a member of the nine-judge court panel -- who emphasized that the decision was final.

At least five people were killed and 21 wounded when a parked car packed with explosives detonated Thursday morning next to a minibus in Iskandiriya, south of Baghdad, police said. The vehicle was carrying employees of the state-run National Car Industry Co. Police also said the manager of the company was shot dead this past week, while driving to work.

Suicide car bombers on Thursday killed 10 people in two incidents at and near security checkpoints in Baghdad.

Police said one of the two mayors of Baghdad's Sadr City, Rahim al-Darraji, was critically wounded when gunmen attacked his convoy. A police officer was killed in the strike.

The U.S. military reported the deaths of five U.S. troops on Wednesday in separate incidents in two violent provinces outside Baghdad -- the ethnically mixed Diyala province and the Sunni-dominated Anbar province. The deaths bring to 3,195 the number of U.S. military personnel killed since the Iraq war began nearly four years ago. Seven civilian contractors of the Defense Department have also been killed.

Pentagon: 'Civil war' inadequate term for*Iraq war - CNN.com

This gets to me out of the article:

Quote:

The war in Iraq has been characterized by fighting between the majority Shiite Muslim sect and the minority Sunni Muslims, who were in power under Saddam Hussein's regime.

But the report also cites Shiite-on-Shiite violence; al Qaeda and Sunni insurgent attacks on coalition forces, and "widespread criminally motivated violence" as features that complicate the designation of civil war.

Yeah I get the Sunni's in power are mad that they aren't in power anymore. Al-Qaeda and Iran weren't factors until The US invaded Iraq. Britian and France joined our Civil War... not as fighters necessarily but as suppliers. It really appears that the only reason the Pentagon doesn't declare this a civil war because the opposition forces have all involved us in their conflicts. I mean as occupiers doesn't that make us a part of the fight? We installed the puppet government in place... these folks are fighting that government. Basically what it tells me, which as per usual with the Administration in place is that the Iraqi government is installed by us but we should not be a part of anything that could be called a Civil War. That is the only way to call what is happening a Civil War, no US involvement. So the population shouldn't be fighting the puppet government either cause it is the US to.

How do you define a Civil War? Is Iraq in a Civil War?