DAR AL HARB - U.S.A.: "CIVIL WAR IN IRAQ" SO SAY U.S. INTELLIGENCE AGENCIES

US intelligence admits major violence in Iraq is civil war

Washington: US intelligence has concluded key elements of Iraq's violence could be described as "civil war," a term Bush administration officials have been reluctant to use, a new report said yesterday.

The report, reflecting the consensus views of the American espionage community, also suggested President George W. Bush's new strategy for controlling Iraqi violence must show progress within 12-18 months or risk further deterioration.

"The intelligence community judges that the term 'civil war' does not adequately capture the complexity of the conflict in Iraq," according to the National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) report, parts of which were obtained by Reuters.

"Nonetheless, the term 'civil war' accurately describes key elements of the Iraqi conflict, including the hardening of ethno-sectarian identities, a sea change in the character of the violence and population displacements."

Four wars

At a news conference Defence Secretary Robert Gates, a former director of central intelligence, said he had yet to read the report but rejected the term, saying it was an oversimplification of events in Iraq.

"It's not, I think, just a matter of politics or semantics. I think it oversimplifies ... It's a bumper sticker answer to what's going on in Iraq," Gates said.

"There are essentially four wars going on in Iraq. One is Shiite on Shiite, principally in the South, the second is sectarian conflict principally in Baghdad, third is the insurgency and fourth is Al Qaida," Gates told reporters.

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1) US intelligence admits major violence in Iraq is civil war