WASHINGTON, March 19 (UPI) -- Three years after the Iraq invasion, the United States reportedly is "thinking about" the possibility of civil war in Iraq, a report said.
Military intelligence is staging war games to help officials determine what might happen in such a scenario, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told the London Sunday Telegraph as the death toll in sectarian violence mounts.
Rumsfeld said the intelligence committee was "thinking about this and analyzing it" to get an idea of what steps should be taken next, the newspaper said.
The Bush administration stand has been that a civil war in Iraq is not an immediate possibility. But, amid signs that internal strife is spreading, Congress has been pressuring for strategies in case the situation changes.
A senior, bipartisan panel is reported to have said it would "take fresh eyes on the target" and recommend a course that would include potential civil conflict.
