So the newsies today and tonight have been intoning, like this is a portentious New Thing that they just discovered, "This [the bombing of the Askariyah shrine in Samarra] could signal the start of civil war in Iraq." I hate to tell them but they're a little behind the times. Come along as we explore how I know, and maybe pick up a tip or two on doing news searches on Google. Lambert ain't the only one who can give geek.....

For my other life I have done a search of Google News for, well, however many years Google News has been in existence. Five days a week, Sunday through Thursday, for the words "Civil War." Now this service hunts, they say, 4500 news outlets: papers, TV stations, magazines, online outlets (including, regrettably, a large number of wackaloon wingnut sites), largely American but including sources from all over the world as long as they are in English. And this is not just news-o-the-day, they go back about a month.

So I go to http://news.google.com/. In the box I put the words "Civil War" just like that: in quotes. I hit "Search" or just the enter key. Voila--as I write this at 7:30 p.m. CST it returns 14,700 hits for this term.

Now as you look at the first page of hits you will see that these are from all over hell and gone, subject wise--

Civil War Date Set
KOIN.com, OR - 8 hours ago
CORVALLIS, Ore. -- The season-ending Civil War between the Oregon and Oregon State basketball teams has been set for 5 pm on March 4. ...

Hamas, Fatah pave the road to civil war
New York Daily News, NY - 6 hours ago
That's the question nobody seems to be asking. But unless it's resolved peacefully, civil war is next door for the Palestinians. ... looks like civil war.

Eight Neb. co-workers share $365M jackpot
Kansas City Star, MO - 8 minutes ago
... said Eric Zornes, 40. Alain Maboussou, 26, said he fled the Congo in 1999 to escape unrest after the civil war there. He said he ...

Uganda’s elections show vitality and difficulty of elections in ...
Sudan Tribune, Sudan - 9 minutes ago
... Since then, Museveni has frustrated donors by intervening in neighboring Congo’s civil war, increasing military spending and refusing to retire from politics ...

Zapatero rules out negotiations with ETA over self-determination
Spain Herald, Spain - 1 hour ago
... He said, "Under what terms, then?" and asked whether the administration was considering a "draw" or "the status of combatants in a civil war, as Zapatero ...

So we see that just having a civil war is frankly not that big or noteworthy a deal. Everybody and his dog seems to be having one, or being on the verge of one, or just emerging from one, maybe, although the cease-fire could collapse at any moment blah blah blah.

What we're interested in, though, is the oncoming disaster in Iraq. How bad is the situation right now?

Go back up to the address box where you have the words "Civil War" sitting now. After the second quote mark hit the space bar ONE time, then put a minus sign (-) and then immediately, without any additional spaces, put Iraq (no quotes).

Your hit count immediately drops from 14,700 to 11,500. That means that there are now in active circulation 3,200 stories about Civil War in Iraq. And that's gone up by about 300 in the last two hours.

I'd say the subject isn't exactly new.