The Gaping Hole in Europe’s Defenses - Main contents

When the anti-Islamic State coalition launches its planned offensive—perhaps in the coming weeks—against the caliphate’s stronghold of Mosul in northern Iraq, France will support the assault with its Caesar 155mm self-propelled howitzers.

And Germany? Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen was in Iraq last week with the Bundeswehr trainers of Kurdish fighters, who are important elements of the coalition’s attack plans. She assured her troops that they would remain at a distance from battle zones, adding that for the German army, “security is the highest priority.”

Germany, one of the world’s biggest arms dealers and a founding NATO member, is again making clear it is a limited-risk, nonlethal player. Even with a barbaric anti-Western force as an enemy, its military doctrine effectively says no to maximum prejudice.

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Han ten Broeke, chairman of the Dutch Parliament’s armed-services commission, regards the EU defense proposal—still to be approved by the European Council—as a significant mistake. “Europe’s real concerns are things like how NATO’s rapid reaction forces can actually prepare to face down threats from the east. The only defense the EU should concern itself with is that of its external borders,” he said.

It’s here, in their facing away from an activist policy toward Russia, that real French-German compatibility begins.

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