Regime and opposition both deny 'civil war' status

There is not any point of agreement between the regime and the opposition in Syria. Nevertheless, they agree to reject describing the battles and confrontations going on between them as a "civil war". The regime is chasing criminal terrorist gangs that are isolated and have no popular base, often in collaboration with the "citizens" based on their appeals and the opposition are fighting one of "Assad’s gangs" that  is isolated even within their community, and is waiting for wide desertion that will be enough to undermine the "gang" from the inside and both groups attributed to themselves overwhelming public support. On Friday the Syrian ambassador in Amman Dr Bahjat Suleiman objected to the statements that were made by Iran's ambassador in Amman Mustafa Mosleh Zadeh on Jerusalem Day, in which he described the events in Syria as a civil war and said that: "One third of the Syrian people stand on the side of the regime, a third stands with the opposition, and another third is in the "grey area" between this and that." Solomon argued: "The opposition enjoys the support of no more than 10 to 20 percent at best (or worst), and the rest of the Syrians, the vast ".majority stands behind regime. What is happening in Syria is not a civil war for several reasons Ambassador Suleiman cited a poll conducted by an institution that is funded by Sheikha Mozah, the ruler of Qatar's ruler wife and the poll showed that 70 percent of Syrians are in the favor of the Syrian regime, while 55 percent of them support Assad personally. These numbers  were repeated yesterday on the BBC by Iran's ambassador in Beirut Dr Ghazanfar Rukun Abadi to justify Iran's support for what it claims is the regime that represents the majority of Syrians. Other than the two teams, most of the capitals of the region and the world see what is happening in Syria specifically as a "civil war". The regime’s friends and opponents say it, and some of them warn from it and fear its repercussions on the region. Some others work on inciting the situation. The rejection of this dual diagnosis by both teams is a distinct political stance. Ambassador Suleiman used the cohesion of the (ideological) Syrian army to demonstrate the validity of his thesis and came with two examples to support his theory: the first from Lebanon where the army collapsed before the outbreak of the civil war (1975-1990), and its collapse was necessary preparation. The second is from Iraq, where the dismantling of the Iraqi army resulted in the outbreak of war 2005 - 2008. I believe that the listed examples supports this hypothesis, however, Lebanon and Iraq does not represent all experiences of civil wars in the region and the world. There are some examples of civil wars which began and continued for many years (and still continue), without the collapses of the regular army or dismantling it (Sudan, Yemen, you can name more). If what is happening in Syria is not a civil war (religious/sectarian), what is a civil war? Killing for sectarian identity, collective massacres, population transfer, sorting, internal and external displacement, exclusionary speech, targeting of villages, neighborhoods and cities on the basis of sectarian identity, lawlessness, the prevalence of armed militias and criminal gangs, kidnapping, murdering, raping and robbery. All of the manifestations of civil wars and their symptoms are happening today in Syria, and reminds us of the first civil war in Lebanon and Iraq. The rates of murders and counter-murders in Syria are more than the other two countries. What took place during the year and a half of deaths and wounds, abduction, detention, displacement and migration? It is true that the Syrian army has not seen wide splits such as those witnessed by the armies of Yemen and Libya and it had not given up on the regime or rebelled against it as happened in Egypt and Tunisia. Syria seems to offer its own experience in the field of civil wars and what was true at the beginning of the Syrian crisis, as the dissenters numbered in hundreds, today this is no longer the case after the number exceeds tens of thousands, and the number accelerated in recent months in terms of the quantity and quality. Is it wise, after all that happened to turn a blind eye to the facts that are happening on the ground? --- The views expressed by the author do not necessarily represent or reflect the editorial policy of Arabstoday.