I actually support Basque independence, but that's another story.
It is very hard to fault them for pulling out, in the circumstances.
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thats what the treaty says, tis true.
but whether or not it was acted upon in this instance is debatable, considering no such deployment was made. not that i fault france and/or germany for this -- its not like it was russia, or some other tangible force that could be confronted.
its certainly not as powerful to say, "well, we woulda"
Part of the terminology of all of this is wrong. Its not a "war" on terror. Wars are between nations, not nations and groups of people. Afghanistan, I guess, fits the bill, even though the guys were Saudis and there are the same ideolgues in various parts of the world.
But more to the point, the US won't allow NATO in Iraq, and didn't want NATO in Afghanistan. Its easy to say "we woulda" when the guy you're offering to help out is 12 foot tall and weighs 2 tonnes, and actually isn't a guy at all but is more of a velociraptor.
