Saturday December 2, 2006

I've Been Thinking:

Here is the question: Is there a civil war going on in Iraq.
Here is the answer: It's all a matter of semantics and definition.

If you define a civil war merely as internal fighting, the answer is yes, there is dangerous internal fighting happening in Iraq.
But I think that the term "civil war" has a bigger and more significant meaning.

Civil war requires a battle over the power and future of a government.
Civil war means that the fighters represent significant parties in the population that are vying for power.
Anything less is civil unrest - not civil war.

The Sunnis cannot mount a civil war.
They do not have the weapons or the power.
There is no way they can become the leaders of Iraq.
They do not represent enough people in Iraq to control Iraq.
They cannot topple the government.

The only power Iraq's Sunnis have is the fear factor.
The ability to instill fear does not meet the definition of civil war.