Despite the public proclamations of undying friendship and amity that have been the traditional lies told whenever any alliance between two nations has been formed, the only lesson we can take from history is that these marriages of convenience rarely last. Each partner typically has only its own interests at heart, and countries have a bad habit of running straight into the arms of whomever is waving the fattest wad of cash, offering the most weaponry (pointed at someone else), and asking for the least sacrifice. So it has been for the many millennia. It is, therefore, a bit of a surprise that so many Americans are shocked and appalled to discover that our iron-clad alliance with our pals across the pond has turned out to be composed of less than stalwart friends. We put together the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in 1949 Read more