Are we fighting a war on terror in Iraq, or are we now caught in the middle of their civil war?

Answer 1

We're not really fighting a "war on terror" anywhere - if we were, then we would either stop supporting terrorist states like Indonesia and Saudi Arabia (or declare war on them for crimes against their own people). Instead, we continue to support terrorists whenever it suits our purposes.

The Iraqi civil war that we're seeing was hardly unexpected - the Sunni minority, which had ruled over the Shia majority for several decades, now finds itself at the other end of the gun barrel. Shia-dominated Iran, is predictably helping out their fellow Shias in Iraq. Of course the Sunni minority are not entirely helpless and receive funding and aid from other sympathetic groups and states.

Answer 2

We aren't fighting terrorism in Iraq and we arent caught in the middle of their civil war. We started their civil war and terrorism in Iraq. Sure Al Qaeda moved in when we invaded and stirred the pot with the mosque bombings etc. But the fact is that had we not invaded there would neither be a civil war in Iraq, nor Al Qaeda in Iraq. And by staying there now we are serving the purposes of terrorism and prolonging the civil war. If we pull out Al Qaeda will no longer have our presence as a recruiting tool or an OpFor to train their recruits against. And if we pull out the Iraqi Shiites will quickly subdue the Sunni rebellion by sheer weight of force and brutality. Unfortunately that will leave an Iranian Supported and Allied and pretty much Iranian puppet government running Iraq, but for the Kurds. That would be a problem since Iran is, after all, one of the Axis of Evil and have been our enemy since 1979 and have actually engaged in terror attacks on US interests abroad, something Iraq didnt actually do. They also support Hezbollah and are builing a nuclear weapons program. Adding Iraqi Oil money and 20 million more people to their cause is not really a good thing. And of course a Shiite repression of Sunnis would still serve as a recruiting tool and a battleground for jihad for the Al Qaeda in Iraq group we have caused to form in Iraq. Oh yes, and our credibility, already undermined by this buffoon Bush, will be further kicked around. But we shook off Vietnam, so we can shake this off too. But yes, pulling out is not a completely positive thing.

Answer 3

Unlike Afghanistan, Iraq was never a legitimate target in the war on terror. From an anti terrorism standpoint a stronger argument could be made for invading the UK.
A lot of people have been playing parsing games regard whether or not Iraq is in a civil war. There are two groups killing each other, each trying to determine the future of the country. I don't know how else to define a civil war and our men and women are right in the middle.

Answer 4

We were never fighting a real war on terror in Iraq. In other parts of the world we are, but not in Iraq. That was mainly for oil and to settle a score with Hussein. Now we are stuck in the middle of a civil war.

Answer 5

There is no civil war in Iraq. The small cells that are fomenting trouble are being supported and funded from outside the country.

We cannot leave Iraq unprotected as we dismantled their military and these outside influences would be takethe offensive against the country.

Some of the elements we are fighting there are terrorist cells looking to fight the US and discredit the US by destabilizing the new government. But the majority of instigators are state funded, not independent terror groups.

Answer 6

Al Zarkawi made it clear: the only way his ilk can win against the coalition forces is to wait until they get tired and demoralized. That's the plan.

What we're seeing is not a true, grass roots civil war. It's a bunch of thugs who figure that if they cause enough commotion for long enough, we'll lose our resolve and leave.

So, yes. This is a war on terror we are fighting. They're just using a bunch of cheap stunts to make it appear like a civil war.

Answer 7

Both, The war on terror will continue as long as there are people that want to wipe out Americans and the democratic way of life.

It has turned into a civil war of sorts, not in the true fashion of 2 factions fighting for control of the government but, the government fighting for control of the country against several factions that want to destroy it.

Answer 8

There are many wars that American soldiers are caught in the middle of now in Iraq, civil war is just one of them.

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Answer 9

We are not fighting a war on terror. At best we are fighting individual terrorists whose death will not affect the terrorism machine as a whole.

There is no civil war in Iraq. In a civil war there are two sides that are fighting to take control. In Iraq there is just sectarian violence and random violent acts.

Answer 10

We removed a violent military dictator, whom we perceived to be a treat to the USA. He's gone.
Now Iraqis (a fictitious country created by the Brits after WW1) need to decide if they want to be one country or 3. We owe them a chance to make that decision themselves. But if the decision is going to be made by Civil War then we need to back off and try to eliminate external influences.