The US might overstretch itself to the point of being forced to request NATO assistance for a war opposed by its NATO allies, and then demand that assistance.

to some extent this is a done deed.

what remains to be seen is whether certain European NATO members' reticence to participate will be recognized and discussed, and what bearing the reluctance will have on the future of NATO.

Other problems include the reluctance of NATO countries to contribute troops and aircraft to deployments in the first place. The Netherlands debated for months before committing about 1,000 troops, and Denmark and Sweden took weeks to agree to far more modest personnel contributions. This disconnect between NATO's high command and individual member states has been evident since 2003, when NATO first took over the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan.