Originally Posted by Kiopa_Matt

I guess I'm not 100% certain either, but I think it's if NATO goes to war, the US MUST go to war as well. They don't really get a choice to sit it out. That's why you see guys like Italy, Spain, and Canada involved in the Libya strikes as well. I'm pretty sure the Canadian parliament didn't authorize the CF-18s for an offensive mission in Libya either. That's because Canada is a member of NATO, and the treaty has already passed the halls of parliament.

That's the whole premise of NATO. Attacking one member nation is the same as attacking all member nations. If NATO goes to war, all member nations go to war. Not sure how valid NATO is anymore considering the cold war ended a wee bit ago, but nonetheless...