Deutschland unter alles

There is a fascinating Op-Ed in today's Wall Street Journal on Germany's continuing lurch to the left: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122030766392588417.html?mod=djemEditorialPage. The impact of this move can't be overstated. Germany was until fairly recently one of the pillars of NATO, but ever since the days of Gerhard Schroeder, it has backed off from its commitments to the alliance, and it has drifted ever more into an anti-American, pro-Russian posture in terms of its foreign policy. The move is largely fueled by domestic politics, where German voters are apparently of the mind that they would rather vote for actual communists (the Left Party) than pseudo-communists (the Social Democrats). If the Left Party eventually worms its way into Germany's national government, you can pretty much bank on a German pullout from Afghanistan, and very possibly a German pullout from NATO. NATO is already in its death throes. A German departure would finish it off completely.