NBC refers to war as "civil war," but is it okay?

Earlier this week, NBC began to refer to the war in Iraq as a "civil war." Also, The New York Times has also started to call it a "civil war." Reporters calling the war a "civil war" has sparked many arguments and controversy. Many are saying that calling the war a "civil war" is a political judgement, not a news judgement. Others in the media, such as CBS and CNN say that they are hesitant to jump into NBC's "civil war bandwagon." So is it okay to call the war in Iraq a "civil war?"
As of right now, the Bush Administration is shying away from terming it so. While many Americans are doing the opposite. CNN did a poll this week with results ending in two-thirds of Americans agree that the war is in fact a civil war.
The job of the media (news reporting wise) is to report on facts, not on loose opinion, but should calling the war in iraq a civil war be considered a loose opinion?
It is hard to say at this point. The war has many civil war characteristics. Civilian deaths are more than a 100 a day in Iraq. Even with many characteristics of a civil war, many are hestitant to call it so.
Rome Hartman, CBS's executive reporter for the evening news says, "There is awful violence, but I don't know that the warfare between the sides is the thing that defines every moment of life. Of course, it threatens life and it is a horrible part of life, but it doesn't seem to us to be the overriding element of every day and every hour there."
In my opinion, It was not wrong of reporters to claim the war in Iraq as a "civil war." The job of reporters is to call out what they see. If the media waits around for the government to give the okay to call it a "civil war," then the media would be seemingly controlled by the government. News reporters should call out things as they see fit, but I do feel that they will have to be ready to face the backlash of doing so.