INTERESTING PERSPECTIVE on U.S./German difficulties from Wax Tadpole, Eamonn Fitzgerald, AmiLand and PapaScott. Apparently, screwing the U.S. at the U.N. is all in good fun, but many German editorialists are genuinely horrified at the damage Schroeder is doing to NATO. Trouble is, it may be too late to fix it. In a political alliance, problems like this can be forgotten or papered over — but what good is a military alliance where you don’t trust your allies to make good in the clutches?

And forget the relationship with America. How must the Turks feel about the unwillingness of NATO to defend them?

Perhaps we should offer them NAFTA membership and a bilateral alliance.