The attack on the Al-Askri mosque (pictured) in Samarra in February is seen as a key moment in the escalation of sectarianism in Iraq (epa) November 28, 2006 -- A major U.S. news organization has become the first officially to call the Iraq conflict a civil war.
NBC, one of the major U.S. television networks, says the Iraqi government's inability to stop spiraling violence between rival factions fits its definition of civil war.
In response, the White House noted that while the situation is serious, neither President George W. Bush nor Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki believe it is a civil war.
(Reuters)
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