[Skybird]

Reading a German opinion piece on how impossible to calculate and thus how dangerous it would be to deliver modern weapons to Ukraine with its unproven, instabile and so far badly manouvering government (not to mention the provocation this would unavoidably mean for Russia, it would be as if Russia would form a military alliance against America with Canada or Mexico), I read a quote by John McCain.

Two decades ago, during the Munich conference for security in that year, he was asked what kind of alliance support an attacked NATO member could expect if article 5 would be declared as valid, and what range of reactions by the individual alliance members would be possible. He answered: "Anything - from a nuclear response to a postcard with regrets."

Underlines nicely what I tried to explain about article 5 above: even if article 5 gets called, this in no way means that all members necessarily must and would participate in any military endavour, or would even indirectly need to support that. While some countries might decide to react militarily, others are left free to excuse themselves by claiming they see no need for a military reaction, and doing something different. Sending chocolate bars, for example, if that is what they claim to be appropriate to adress the crisis.