Sunday, September 03, 2006

An Uncivil War?

When is a civil uprising classified as a "civil war"? The army definition I found online lists 5 criteria, one of which is that both parties must lay claim to their own government. Most of the definitions, however, simply define a civil war as a war between two factions within the same country.

Thus we have the debate - is the battle for control of Iraq a civil war - or not? I personally believe it could be so classified. President Bush, however, continues to view it is as something else. Not that he tells us what that something else is (he and his speech writers have not yet been able to coin something clever).

It occurred to me that the President could cleverly disguise what is taking place in Iraq by calling it a "love-in." Certainly a number of his followers would buy into this and come to believe that the conflict in Iraq is simply the result of too much sex. This would really fit into their Puritan view of the world.

To read more about Bush's denial of the real nature of the war in Iraq, connect to Forbes.com.

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