IS NATO A “FRAUDULENT COALITION?”

Yet, even if the Europeans were more enthusiastic, they might have little to contribute. Germany, the largest country in the European Union, has 270,000 soldiers in its army — yet its commanders maintain that no more than about 10,000 can be deployed at any one time. No matter the politics, the German Parliament is unlikely to authorize an increase in the current ceiling of 2,300 troops for Afghanistan. And Germany is the largest contributor to the NATO operation — France, which has never liked the idea of NATO operations outside of Europe, has only 800 soldiers there.

For now, Bush’s interest lies in glossing over this trouble. Kerry’s pitch is that he can make it go away with a new, alliance-centered foreign policy. Both are, in effect, counting on the myth’s staying alive — at least until November.

Ouch. More background here. A military alliance with Europe is like going on a diet with Michael Moore: one of you will wind up doing most of the work.

In a related vein, Daniel Drezner has an interesting post on U.S. force structure.