Annan: Life for Iraqis worse than with Saddam - AP

Let's talk about the media coverage of the Iraq war.
There are probably thousands of things to say. Yet, one thing struck me. It's been years we are reading that "Iraq is one the verge of civil war". As "being on the verge of something" implies that it won't take long before the worse comes to the worse, one wonders wether there actually is a bit of of subtle war communication strategy involved.
How many civilians have died in Iraq for the past 12 months? Given that - daily - dozens are reported to die in sectarian attacks, we can safely assume that hundreds are killed daily all over the country (most deadly attacks being overshadowed by the biggest car bombing of the day).
Well, if 100,000 people die annually in a given country with a small population of less than 30 million inhabitants, is the media allowed to talk about "civil war"?
That's my question.

Sailom

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16035086

‘They had a dictator who was brutal but they had their streets,’ he says

Updated: 10:00 a.m. ET Dec. 4, 2006

LONDON - The level of violence in Iraq is "much worse" than that of Lebanon's civil war, outgoing U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan said in an interview aired Monday.

Speaking to the British Broadcasting Corp., Annan agreed that the average Iraqi's life is worse now than it was under Saddam Hussein and called the situation in the country "extremely dangerous."

"Given the level of violence, the level of killing and bitterness and the way that forces are arranged against each other, a few years ago, when we had the strife in Lebanon and other places, we called that a civil war; this is much worse," Annan said.