While NATO supposedly is a defensive alliance united by the concept of "an attack against one is an attack against all", in its offensive wars of aggression in Iraq and Libya NATO used the idea of a coalition of its members who were willing to defy standards of [[international law]] and conduct to violate the [[United Nations Charter]] prohibition on waging [[war of aggression|wars of aggression]] against sovereign states. Many NATO member states sat out these wars of aggression. These "coalitions of the willing" have the added benefit of deflecting [[domestic]] criticism by claiming it is a "treaty obligation," and that they are supposedly only living up to their responsibilities. | While NATO supposedly is a defensive alliance united by the concept of "an attack against one is an attack against all", in its offensive wars of aggression in Iraq and Libya NATO used the idea of a coalition of its members who were willing to defy standards of [[international law]] and conduct to violate the [[United Nations Charter]] prohibition on waging [[war of aggression|wars of aggression]] against sovereign states. Many NATO member states sat out these wars of aggression. These "coalitions of the willing" have the added benefit of deflecting [[domestic]] criticism by claiming it is a "treaty obligation," and that they are supposedly only living up to their responsibilities. |