at least as it currently exists. Turkey is invoking Article 4 but Belgium, France, and Germany are acting against them. No military coalition can survive when a member nation is left swinging in the breeze.

NATO itself may well disappear as a result of what happened today. One alternative is the formation of a new alliance without France, Germany, and perhaps Belgium. The remaining nations want to know that if they're in danger, the others will come to their assistance. France, Germany, and Belgium have put their own political interests ahead of a member nation. People don't forget (or forgive) being stabbed in the back like that.

From the WSJ, The End of NATO: An alliance that refuses to defend a member nation is useless

We realize the end of NATO has been trumpeted prematurely before. It's also true that the three obstructionist countries hardly speak for all of NATO, which did vote 16-3 in favor of the Turkish request. NATO has also expanded in recent years to include nations to the east, most of which understand better than the French do that the U.S. is the ultimate guarantor of their own security.



But the Cold War is over, and the main threat to the West now is global terrorism employing nuclear and bioweapons. If NATO cannot adapt to this reality by moving its resources to meet that threat, then as currently constructed it has outlived its usefulness. What President Bush calls a "coalition of the willing" will become America's new security alliance.