They weren't even asking for deployment or anything else, just PLANNING for their defense. But no, that wasn't good enough for the Old Europeans. They took the opportunity to stick it to the US and the Turks, too. Are they willing to wait until after Turkey is attacked to do anything as you stated the other day? Fat lot of good that'll do. That's like offering someone a bulletproof vest AFTER they've been shot. That's just plain stupid.

Belgium, France, and Germany did more damage to NATO in a week than the Soviet Union managed to do in 40 years. All of the other NATO member nations now know that Belgium, France, and Germany will put their own internal political interests ahead of the alliance, meaning that the alliance is useless. It wasn't enough that they merely voted against the planning, they went so far as to veto it. They've even stonewalled Turkey's appeal under Article 4.

The aftershocks from this absurd action will be felt for years. It wouldn't surprise me if some countries reevaluate their desire to be part of NATO and even the EU. If that happens, there will be a lot of empty office buildings in Belgium. The EU could end up being little more than a bunch of French, German and Belgian bureaucrats sitting around handing down stupid regulations about labeling chicken eggs and the like while the rest of Europe builds a vibrant economy.