Iraq near civil war, 'we are almost there' -Annan

[sabra]

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N27474690.htm

Iraq near civil war, 'we are almost there' -Annan

UNITED NATIONS, Nov 27 (Reuters) - Iraq is nearly in civil war and could fall into civil war unless urgent steps are taken to prevent this, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said on Monday in a rare comment on the situation in Iraq.

"Given the developments on the ground, unless something is done drastically and urgently to arrest the deteriorating situation, we could be there. In fact we are almost there," Annan told reporters in response to a question.

The United Nations has been playing only a minor role in Iraq since the truck-bombing of its Baghdad headquarters in August 2003 in an attack that killed 22 people including Sergio Vieira de Mello, the U.N. mission chief in the country.

Annan, whose second five-year term as secretary-general runs out at the end of the year, has previously made waves by stating in December 2004 that the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq was illegal as it was not approved by the U.N. Security Council.

[jwirr]

1. What is the definition of a Civil War?

[grizmaster]

3. straight from Merriam-Webster

by definition it's already been a civil war for years

http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/civil%20war

Main Entry: civil war
Function: noun
: a war between opposing groups of citizens of the same country

[ECH1969]

5. Under that definition Pakistan and most of the Middle East is in civil war

[grizmaster]

6. yup, and pretending they aren't hasn't helped matters

can't wait to have a reality based administration in the White House again

[Frustratedlady]

2. How does one decide when a civil war begins?

What are the signs. How many deaths do you have to have to declare a civil war? Do you need so many from one side and a like number from the other? Do they draw a line? Will they call this a triple civil war with Kurds, Sunni and Shiites? I keep waiting for this cabal to explain what signs they are waiting for to call this a civil war.

I think it would be easier to just say the carnage has been building for several months. We are about to declare this a full-blown carnage.

[Maeve]

7. Here's what was in the Sunday NY Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/26/world/middleeast/26war.html?ex=1322197200&en=916272a5feb0f926&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss

The common scholarly definition has two main criteria. The first says that the warring groups must be from the same country and fighting for control of the political center, control over a separatist state or to force a major change in policy. The second says that at least 1,000 people must have been killed in total, with at least 100 from each side.

American professors who specialize in the study of civil wars say that most of their number are in agreement that Iraq’s conflict is a civil war.

<more>

In other words, it looks like, quacks like and swims like a duck....but smells like cooked goose!

[Eurobabe]

4. I thought Iraq was in a civil war months ago??

WTF?

[calimary]

9. No shit.

What about this is NOT a civil war? Especially with the definitions offered upthread. Seems to me we're there already, and have been there for quite some time. I'm no expert, but it's looked like civil war to me for months - maybe even longer than that.

But I think we can rest assured that the ever reliable norah o'donnell and all her nice little friends will keep on asking "is Iraq approaching civil war?"

GEEEZ. If you have to ask... (sounds of hand smacking head)

[Quantess]

10. You can draw a parallel to acknowledging global warming.

In 5 years, some people will finally say, "hmm, looks like global warming". The rest of us will be wondering why it took so long for them to accept it as fact, when we've been saying it all along.

[Kablooie]

13. No. It was ALMOST in a civil war months ago.

And about this time next year it will also be ALMOST in a civil war.

[mc jazz]

8. He thinks it's civil war

in diplomatic speak, that's a confirmation
That's what annoys me about saying Lebanon and Gaza are in civil war, or the entire middle east
They are not yet even if they are ready to fight and there are a few skirmishes
The only civil war is in Iraq and Sudan and the others can be prevented
A real civil war in the middle east would be a bit bigger than what's happening in Iraq right now, like you'd have no job

[Jacobin]

11. If you wanna name this disaster, why not call it what it is:

A Bush Clusterfuck.

[Frustratedlady]

12. Bingo!