Have a ? May Seem Dumb To Some

it's a civil war NOW! nothing to do with USA

by Wiki definition it shouldn't be.

A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same nation state or republic,[1] or, less commonly, between two countries created from a formerly united nation state.[2] The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.[1] The term is a calque of the Latin bellum civile which was used to refer to the various civil wars of the Roman Republic in the 1st century BC


A civil war is a high-intensity conflict, often involving regular armed forces, that is sustained, organized and large-scale. Civil wars may result in large numbers of casualties and the consumption of significant resources.

history and such wasn't my strong subject in high school lol can you explain?

Not a civil war - that's what Syria already has. That's the internal fighting going on. Rebels vs current gov - Assad.

If we attack, it is one sovereign nation attacking another, with no provocation. They (Syria) have not threatened us, attacked us, or given us a reason to have to defend ourselves by using military might. Which is a real no-no. (Although we've done it before without major repercussions. It's just that this time, Russia, Iran and China have a vested interest in not allowing us to go in and cause havoc like we've done in Libya, Iraq and Egypt. Among others. This time, bombing Syria will impact the pocketbooks and treaty agreements of some VERY big players.)

Hope this helps. And it's just my humble interpretation...

Did the above explanations make sense, Wren?


It is kinda like this...
A civil war would be like the Cornhuskers basketball fighting with the Bellvue basketball team.

But if Oklahoma decides to take on the Cornhuskers, that is NOT a civil war.

Think of the word 'civil' in this context to mean 'internal' or 'between forces residing/originating within the country'.

This definition fits the Syria situation:

A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same nation state or republic

The two groups being the established government and the rebels. Key players in this war are listed and described here.. [link to abcnews.go.com]

If the US attacks the Assad military they will become another player in Syria's civil war, or the attack could be viewed as an act of war between two soveriegn countries.

A US attack might affect the outcome of the conflict but it would not affect how we refer to the conflict (as a civil war)