WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Former President Bill Clinton told CNN Thursday he agrees with those who have labeled the situation in Iraq a "civil war," but -- differing from top congressional Democrats -- said he's against setting a definite timetable for withdrawal.

"We probably shouldn't set a definite timetable right now because we don't want to lose all the leverage we have to get others in the surrounding countries to work with us, and to get the Iraqi political forces to try to get more and more people to choose politics over violence," Clinton told Soledad O'Brien on "American Morning."

In the ongoing semantics debate over what to call the situation in Iraq, Clinton said he would call it a 'civil war.' "That's a big definitional argument, but most Americans would say that's pretty much what it is," Clinton said. "You've got not only the Sunni, the Shia, the Kurds, you've got the tribal conflicts, the intra-Shiite conflicts."

Soledad's full interview with the president will air Friday on "American Morning."