::::Well, you might want to get a second umm, third err, fourth opinion on that one after this.  A normal, unqualified "merge"  just means a redirect.  Where any actual information or prose gets copied we have to make some tip of the hat to GFDL.  A delete and redirect is normally used only where nothing from the deleted page is put into the target page, and if people want that in AfD they need to say so explicitly. 
 ::::As to #wikipedia-en-vandalism... I know that it's very popular, and the people who frequent it are very close, but for admin advice the regular #wikipedia-en channel is often more reliable.  There are almost always people there with more admin edits than you've had hot dinners. 
 ::::I'm logging off now, but I'll have a look over your other stuff to see if there is anything else that sticks out at me.  Keep up the good mopping! 
 ::::