Why US allies in Europe are sitting out the Iran war for now

Berlin

: In 2003, only 18 months after NATO unanimously invoked collective defense after the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States, the alliance nearly split over Washington’s decision to go to war against

Saddam Hussein

in Iraq.
It was a war of choice, without United Nations Security Council approval, aimed at disarming Iraq of weapons of mass destruction, which did not exist, and overthrowing Hussein.