Article 4 is the most important part of the allience and if it is not acted upon it the allience becomes a local pensioners club.
Turkey has asked for defence of its territory at a moment when there is no imminent danger on its territory and the country is not at war.
The raising of the article 4 by Turkey is a political blackmail to NATO sponsored by GB and US.
That would have forced NATO to act and agree to the war. That would have forced Germany and France to bypass their parliaments and be involved in a war and on terms they did not want.
It is only that dirty loundry is aired lately,and in small batches...Two years ago,Gen. Michael Rose in BBC documentary "Friends and Allies" had said: "NATO is dead!"Reason;American arogance and duplicity in Bosnia.
Evesdroping on him and other UN officials;deliberate derailing and sabotage of every peace initiative;maltreatement of NATO officers(almost beatings) from other countries who were witnesses of US clandestine arming of Bosnian Muslims;refusal to go anywhere dangerous,even to provide helicopters for medevac(Malesians had to do it);large number of French casualities,they use to go everywhere....
Remember how after Dayton Tony Blair and Jacques Shirak anounced creation of EuroCorp!?Even the Brits were very pissed off with American attitude!
"They behave like referee siting on the side line and ordering us what to do!"
Then came Kosovo:Spanish pilots were deeply offended by the treatment they received by Americans;everybody else was astonished by a brazen attack on Chinese Embassy in Belgrade!Gen. Jackson`s refusal to obey Clark`s order to attack Russians in Prishtina...
Cracks are everywhere.
And,now this!One more thing:American preasure (!) on EU to accept Turkey into EU has deeply offended Europe.
Nobody in Europe suports war on Iraq,but Bush&Co equalise that with "anti-Americanism" which is ridicoulous!
"With us or against us",policy is going to backfire