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  • Merge this forum?

    I would like to get the opinions of our membership about the future of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict forum.

    Do you feel that issues posted in this forum can be adequately covered by the Middle East Defense Topics and International Politics forums, or is there enough interest among WAB members to warrant having a separate forum?

    In my opinion, it doesn't seem like Israeli-Palestinian issues are the foremost thing on everybody's mind when they visit WAB, and this section is redundant in that there are other sections that can cover the material posted here.

    We don't have a large population of Israelis (a few) or Palestinians (none that I can think of). I don't see WAB attracting many Israelis or Palestinians, to put it simply, we lack this demographic (unlike military servicemembers, or people from the UK, US, South Asia, and Canada.)

    I also wanted to cut down on forum size length-wise so we can better cater to existing demographics without making it bothersome to have to scroll down so far. I feel that having these topics in the other two forums, mainly the Middle East Defense Topics, would help to promote discussion as members would only have to visit one forum instead of two, and those who would not get around to viewing both may not otherwise participate in subjects in both forums to their fullest.

    If we decide to go ahead and merge, all topics here will be moved into the Middle East Defense Topics forum. We would then cut the Issue Specific category and move The War in Iraq to the International Strategic Affairs or Other Forums categories.

    All opinions welcome.
    41
    Yes, there is enough interest in the issues here to warrant a seperate forum
    56.10%
    23
    No, the subjects here can be adequately covered elsewhere
    43.90%
    18
    "Every man has his weakness. Mine was always just cigarettes."

  • #2
    I know many would like it merged. However, I like specialisation since it allows one to home down to the exact issue that one is looking for. This is especially useful when in a hurry.

    When many issues are clubbed under a generic head, there is every possibility that one misses it, especially when in a hurry.

    Further, since many threads are posted, some important ones go into the second and third pages and is lost forever.

    Israel, Palestine and Iraq will not go away for a long time to come!


    "Some have learnt many Tricks of sly Evasion, Instead of Truth they use Equivocation, And eke it out with mental Reservation, Which is to good Men an Abomination."

    I don't have to attend every argument I'm invited to.

    HAKUNA MATATA

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    • #3
      Turn the Iraq war section into a WoT with Afghanistan and Iraq and what ever other shooting conflicts America joins in on. So a dual OEF/OIF section as there is a lot of news from both conflicts.

      Maybe turn the Middle East defense section into Middle East/Central Asia/Africa section.
      To sit down with these men and deal with them as the representatives of an enlightened and civilized people is to deride ones own dignity and to invite the disaster of their treachery - General Matthew Ridgway

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      • #4
        Ray, troung, thank you for your feedback.

        I think what troung suggested for a combined OIF/OEF section may very well be a good idea. The title may need work though... perhaps something like:

        Current US Military Operations
        Current US operations in Iraq (OIF) and Afghanistan (OEF), and elsewhere.

        Any other opinions on this, as well as a merger?
        "Every man has his weakness. Mine was always just cigarettes."

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        • #5
          Not sure what the attitude towards the UN is in here - but there may be merit in including current UN bluehat operations (divided into continents ??).

          at any one stage there are numerous bluehat ops in play, and even though they might not be large news generators, they're still potential discussion items.
          Linkeden:
          http://au.linkedin.com/pub/gary-fairlie/1/28a/2a2
          http://cofda.wordpress.com/

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          • #6
            Originally posted by gf0012-aust View Post
            Not sure what the attitude towards the UN is in here - but there may be merit in including current UN bluehat operations (divided into continents ??).

            at any one stage there are numerous bluehat ops in play, and even though they might not be large news generators, they're still potential discussion items.
            I think it would be best to take it one step at a time :) I think UN operations will garner alot less attention that current US operations, and there would be redundacy for those issues. However, if they were concentrated in one forum they may garner more interest than they do in the current forums, so it may be something that could be considered in the future.
            "Every man has his weakness. Mine was always just cigarettes."

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            • #7
              Originally posted by Ironduke View Post
              Ray, troung, thank you for your feedback.

              I think what troung suggested for a combined OIF/OEF section may very well be a good idea. The title may need work though... perhaps something like:

              Current US Military Operations
              Current US operations in Iraq (OIF) and Afghanistan (OEF), and elsewhere.

              Any other opinions on this, as well as a merger?
              I think keeping them under issue specific forums is okay. Except that there should be a lot more in the breakup comprising of some major hotspots. Afghanistan and Kashmir themselves have a looooooong list of threads behind them on WAB which can all be categorized in them. Right now the issues don't cover a whole WORLD aspect, just mostly issues of American interest.

              If you want to keep them under regions then create sub-forums based on issues under the regional forum.

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              • #8
                Originally posted by Asim Aquil View Post
                I think keeping them under issue specific forums is okay. Except that there should be a lot more in the breakup comprising of some major hotspots. Afghanistan and Kashmir themselves have a looooooong list of threads behind them on WAB which can all be categorized in them. Right now the issues don't cover a whole WORLD aspect, just mostly issues of American interest.

                If you want to keep them under regions then create sub-forums based on issues under the regional forum.
                OEF and OIF are intertwined in many respects, they are both headed by CENTCOM. Of note, CENTCOM's AOR includes most areas under the Middle East forum, with the exception of Pakistan with is covered under the South Asia forum. (Israel is part of EUCOM)

                WAB draws the overwhelming majority of its membership from nations that could be considered part of the "Anglosphere" (UK and its former possessions). The forum is organized in a manner that we feel best caters to the needs of our members, as it is an English-language forum drawing its membership from the Anglosphere. Rest assured this does not mean Anglo-Saxonist or Atlanticist, as the citizenry of the many nations that are part of the Anglosphere are extremely diverse racially, religiously, ethnically, ideologically, etc.
                "Every man has his weakness. Mine was always just cigarettes."

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                • #9
                  I'll be honest here, I think Issue related forums leads to redundancy and duplicity. There is no Issue related aspect that can't be discussed in the Military Forums or that won't be suitable for the Middle East forums.

                  However, I wouldn't mind seeing Issue based archiving.
                  I rant, therefore I am.

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                  • #10
                    Originally posted by srirangan View Post
                    I'll be honest here, I think Issue related forums leads to redundancy and duplicity. There is no Issue related aspect that can't be discussed in the Military Forums or that won't be suitable for the Middle East forums.

                    However, I wouldn't mind seeing Issue based archiving.
                    Thank you Srirangan.

                    Perhaps a bit loaded, but I would like your opinion on if we broadened the focus of The War in Iraq forum to include all current US military operations overseas, if you would feel that this would exclude these topics from the regional strategic affairs forums by default, thus avoiding duplicity and redundancy.
                    "Every man has his weakness. Mine was always just cigarettes."

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                    • #11
                      Originally posted by Ironduke View Post
                      Thank you Srirangan.

                      Perhaps a bit loaded, but I would like your opinion on if we broadened the focus of The War in Iraq forum to include all current US military operations overseas, if you would feel that this would exclude these topics from the regional strategic affairs forums by default, thus avoiding duplicity and redundancy.
                      Actually, it is all perception. There is no "right way" or "wrong way" here. Whichever works best, and is consistent with the rest of the forum structure.
                      I rant, therefore I am.

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                      • #12
                        I don't have a particular comment on the israel / palestine forum merger.

                        The only problem with the merger of the War on Terror type forums is the criteria of "other" i.e. "other US military operations". That just makes the forum into "US conflict". Which doesn't reflect the composition of the conflict and also gives World Affairs Board the look of "US v World".
                        at

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                        • #13
                          I'll vote against change - guess that I'm a creature of habit ;).

                          A separate Israel-Palestine forum has a better chance of drawing in some smart folks on the subject (at the added risk of more trolls, though ).

                          Also, in terms of OIF/OEF merging, I think that the OEF threads will get buried in a long list of OIF threads.

                          As far as GF's suggestion at a UN forum, that might be an interesting forum to draw in some of OoE's experience in a concentrated space and potentially bring in some Africa discussions.
                          "So little pains do the vulgar take in the investigation of truth, accepting readily the first story that comes to hand." Thucydides 1.20.3

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                          • #14
                            i musy say hello to everyone first

                            i musy say hello to everyone first
                            ROMAIL THE CKONE

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                            • #15
                              Originally posted by romail View Post
                              i musy say hello to everyone first
                              Hello,

                              Welcome to WAB. Did you follow IronDuke's email? I must say he is a very hands on proactive Admin!

                              :)
                              I rant, therefore I am.

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