US: Select media sources label problems in Iraq “civil war”

Posted by Allie Judson on November 30, 2006 at 12:42 PM

Certain US news sources have decided to call the current Iraq situation a “civil war” saying that the conflict between the Sunnis and Shiites fits the general definition. White House officials are insisting that the strife has not reached the civil war stage and should be labeled accordingly.

The news magazine Editor & Publisher described the change as a “turning point” and also said, “the utter chaos and carnage of the past week has finally convinced some to use 'civil war' without apology.”

After careful thought, NBC is the latest media group to start using civil war to describe Iraq. After previously stating that Iraq was “on the brink” of civil war, The New York Times has decided to just use “civil war”, and the Los Angeles Times got rid of the quotation marks that before appeared around the phrase.

In regards to the phrase change, the LA Times recently said, "In the United States, the debate over the term rages because many politicians, especially those who support the war, believe there would be domestic political implications to declaring it a civil war.”

Source: Yahoo News through the European Journalism Centre