Semantics

I'm overweight. I don't want to be overweight. I simply eat too much and exercise too little to arrange my reality to reflect my wants.
That being said, the article below was written by someone on the ground in Baghdad. So, he obviously knows more than I do about conditions there.
Still, when people are being blown up while on their way to market, to school or to their jobs--what do we call it? A civil war doesn't have to look like our civil war in order to be one. For all the semantics being tossed around at the time, the 'Korean Conflict' was -- a war.
Meanwhile, does anyone who's been paying attention think we're doing any good there? That would be the only conceivable reason to 'persevere' . [Is that the new word? Look it up in the dictionary. I'll bet the definition is, 'stay the course'].
On the other hand, if you're looking for an excuse, oil will do just fine, I suppose.
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Why We Persevere -- By William Caldwell IV
Wednesday, December 6, 2006; Page A25

BAGHDAD -- I don't see a civil war in Iraq. I don't see a constituency for civil war. The vast majority of the people want hope for their families, not to massacre their neighbors or divide their country.
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Click here for the rest.