NATO officials say that alliance forces are stretched so thin that deeper cuts might interfere with the ability to defend all NATO territory.

"The days of talk of targeting NATO territory or vice versa are long past us."

However, in an emergency the corps must be able to deploy and lead a military mission inside and outside NATO territory within twenty to thirty days.

NATO already has some multinational units but they are on a relatively small scale, such as a 7,000-man mobile force used to defend the flanks of NATO territory.

More than 1,000 NATO troops, including engineers and medics, took part in the relief operation, the first of its kind outside NATO territory.

To deal with such threats, alliance members need to have a way to rapidly form military coalitions that can accomplish goals beyond NATO territory.

The decision to use the alliance's forces beyond NATO territory would require a unanimous decision of its members, including the United States.

The most significant new NATO mission was participation in peace enforcement and peacekeeping operations beyond NATO territory.

Germany, prevented under its Constitution from sending soldiers outside NATO territory, indicated that it would contribute US$39,000,000 to provide logistical support.

During the Gulf conflict most attention in America and Britain was directed at Germany's constitutional inability (some would say unwillingness) to commit any troops outside NATO territory.