White House to NBC: Do Still Believe Iraq is in a Civil War?

Good luck in getting an answer from the folks that let Keith Olbermann rant
with froth against Bush and then let him do primary night coverage:

The White House is calling on NBC News to declare whether the
network still believes Iraq is mired in a “civil war,” escalating a
fight that began when NBC aired an interview with President
Bush that the White House called the product of “deceitful editing.”

The network rattled the White House in November 2006 when
it called the conflict in Iraq a “civil war.” On Monday, White Hous
Counselor Ed Gillespie wrote a letter to NBC News President Steve
Capus, looking in part for an explanation of how NBC News now
views the war.

White House press secretary Dana Perino said Tuesday the
administration is “fed up” with the way NBC News is treating
the Iraq war.

"I remember very distinctly, how there was a quite the pomp and
circumstance when NBC, on The Today Show, decided to declare
that they were declaring Iraq was a civil war. But since then, after
the surge and things certainly have improved in Iraq, NBC has
never had a corresponding ceremony to say that Iraq is not in a
civil war. We're just curious to find out what they believe," she said.

Gillespie noted in his letter that “around September of 2007, your
network quietly stopped referring to conditions in Iraq as a ‘civil war.’”

In two statements Monday, he asked for clarification.

“Is it still NBC News's carefully deliberated opinion that Iraq is in
the midst of a civil war?” he asked in the letter to Capus. “If not,
will the network publicly declare that the civil war has ended, or
that it was wrong to declare it in the first place?”

In a brief statement later, he said, “We … look forward to hearing
their response to our additional concerns about their labeling Iraq
as a ‘civil war.’”

So far, NBC News has not responded.

Oh and Ralph Peters asks a very good question, "Why the media blackout on Iraq?"