NBC News is now defining the conflict in Iraq as a “civil war.”

On the Today Show, Matt Lauer said: “For months now the White House has rejected claims that the situation in Iraq has deteriorated into a civil war. And, for the most part, news organizations like NBC have hesitated to characterize it as such. But after careful consideration, NBC News has decided a change in terminology is warranted — that the situation in Iraq with armed militarized factions fighting for their own political agendas — can now be characterized as a civil war.”

A moment later, in an interview with Barry McCaffrey, Lauer added: “We didn’t just wake up on a Monday morning and say ‘let’s call this civil war.’ This took careful deliberation. We consulted with a lot of people.” Newsbusters has more quotes.

Lauer and McCaffrey then reviewed the definition of civil war. Here’s the video…