I Thought We’d Settled This

Yet again, Victor Davis Hanson takes issue with the use of the term “civil war” to describe the, um, late unpleasantness in Iraq:

But a civil war — two clearly defined sides, each striving to seize power, with antithetical ideologies and agendas — is hardly Iraq, where Sunni tribal elders, Shiite clerics, an elected government, and coalition forces all try to stop 10,000 or so nihilists from murdering so barbarously that they incite a backlash from Shiite gangs or a general sense of hopelessness among the population at large that both loathes and is fearful of these terrorists. There is a reason that histories of the Civil War have a special chapter on Quantrill with the assorted specialized vocabulary like "raiders," "outlaw," "bushwacker," "Jayhawker." What culminated in Lawrence, Kansas — arson, shooting of civilians, settling grudges, targeted assassinations, and general mayhem — was something different from Grant, Lee, etc.

I agree - “civil war” is lacking. The reality is much, much worse. Some suggestions, free of charge: tragic bloody morass; sanguinary catastrophe; chaotic backstabbing; Lord of the Flies with homemade bombs; hellish mayhem.