"Robert Perkins" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 18 Nov 2003 09:38:32 +0100, Martin Hotze
wrote:

It's better than that. It means that Germany need not field a large
defense force,


would Germany _*NEED*_ a larger defense force without NATO or the US?

Until Europe is more united than it is now, yes. EU member nations
haven't given up their national military forces in favor of a common
defense force.

I was going to point out that having the states' economies so interdependent
is a powerful disincentive, in terms of pure self-interest, to make war, so
we needn't worry about independent armies so much.

Then I remembered what happened in the US in 1861.

-- David Brooks