Originally posted by Dowding
What do you mean 'come out in public and tell us who you are'?
We're all anonymous. You seem to be dodging the debate.
That's the point Dowding.....
You can't hold any kind of reasonable informed discussion on Internet boards where the posters hide behind anonymity, but you already knew that.
Just how could a topical subject like the Palestinian/Israeli conflict be discussed rationally without understanding the credentials of the people who are posting supposedly informed opinions? You could be dealing with pre-puberty types using mom's credit card who simply cut-n-paste from thousands of sites, but have no actual original opinion or original thought. They're simply trolling for attention and love to poke sticks into hornet's nests, then stand back and watch, although I don't think we've ever seen any of those here.
There's no debate to dodge here. Over 40 years, I've attended hundreds of seminars sponsored by both sides and read a wealth of material, as well as interacted with historical personalities on both sides of the conflict. I'm approaching 60 and spent seventeen years serving my country in a wide range of roles. I'm very familiar with the middle east and its peoples. As I said to Saburo, I'm no expert and don't profess to be, but I think it's a simple courtesy for anyone who claims to be an authority on any subject, to at least represent to their readers some credentials and background.
If you're really interested in serious discussion (or anyone else), then I'd be happy to arrange for an independent forum where people would have to have the courage to be real people and engage each other with informed and serious discussion on the subject. I'd be happy to bring proponents from both sides of the conflict (with their credentials) and then we can hold some mature and focused debates about the material issues.
Are you interested enough to want to do that? As Nashwan said... it really isn't that important to him..... but, perhaps there are some people that it is.
Thanks for the feedback.
Regards,
Badger