Sophistick

In related Syrian news, the BBC reports that two major opposition groups have decided to join forces. The Syrian National Council, the main opposition group and the Free Syrian Army (FSA), made up of Syrian army defectors, said the FSA would cut down on its attacks on government forces and use force only to protect civilians.

That’s an important move, says the BBC, because it could stop the conflict from sliding into all-out civil war.

The story opens with a UN official describing the situation in Syria as a civil war. And ends with what I’ve quoted, in which the BBC suggests that a decrease of attacks on the Syrian army by defectors from that army may prevent civil war.

My question, again, is: Is it not a civil war when thousands of people in a country attempt to kill each other in systematic ways? Why so reluctant to refer to it that way?