[allvideO]

Logistically they never could. They simply don't have the ability to maintain the sort of 'effort' the US and certain other allies can.

I think you are being unrealistic in terms of what you expect certain countries to be able to do.

The could put effort forth proportional to their ability to do so, which is irrelavant to population. That they can suddenly decide to lesson their effort indicates they are not putting their maximum ability forward.