caesar44, good question.


According to the discussion in the Watchtower several months ago as to what is "history", a topic such as the one you propose about Iraq could be discussed here. If you stick to the historical and not the political as edyz said, then we will be okay. However, this can be a fine line. What I look for is the emotional tone of the discussion. Topics which have ties to current event that affect people's daily lives. This usually increases their emotional stake in the discussion and can cause their politics and emotions to adversely influence the content of their posts. The thread is then heading into Backroom territory. Patrons regain control of the thread by ignoring the political/emotional aspects of such a post and stick to the historical. If the emotional part of a post involves flaming another patron, then you simply need to use the "report this post" link to notify me and I'll handle that part of the issue.

Does that help or confuse the issue?