What was said about Canada could just as easily apply to most of NATO. The entire alliance sheltered under our nuclear umbrella for nearly 50 years. And when a situation arises that the Europeans should have been well able to handle on their own--Bosnia/Kosovo--nothing happens until we show up. Interestingly enough, although France is the country we tend to bash the most, it is France more than any other country that has shown itself willing to take independent military action when necessary--on quite a few occasions, mostly in Africa.

Whether "the sky is falling" or not, Islamist terrorists have shown that the United States is not their only target, by attacks on many other NATO nations. Canada itself even disrupted one fairly significant plot recently. So there's certainly no reason the US should be expected to go it alone in Afghanistan, leaving aside the question of Iraq.

In past wars, other nations have carried a greater burden, in terms of per capita casualties, than has the United States. But this time around, again leaving Iraq aside, it's the United States that bears the major burden in terms of "boots on the ground" confronting the Islamist terrorists. Other members of the Western alliance may well have to rethink their commitment, although it may take incidents such as London and Madrid to prod them into action.