[dragonwriter]

> If they are attacked we have to defend them and they know it. They would contribute a relatively insignificant amount if we were ever attacked.

If? In the entire history of NATO, the mutual defense provisions of the treaty have been invoked exactly once, and that in response to an attack on the US, and the non-US NATO contributions were not insignificant.

[plantain]

>the mutual defense provisions of the treaty have been invoked exactly once

that's the point

[dragonwriter]

Sure, deterrence is the point of the treaty, but the claim upthread was about the significance of contributions that would be made in the event of an attack, a claim which contradicts the facts of the time when an attack resulting in the mutual defense provisions being invoked actually occurred.