NATO & the attacks in France [View all]

[Ms. Yertle]

I've been seeing a lot of stuff speculating that France could invoke Article 5, which states that an attack on a member nation is an attack on all.

http://www.ibtimes.com/paris-terror-attacks-france-could-invoke-nato-collective-defense-clause-2184963
The defense clause of NATO’s founding treaty stipulates that if invoked, each of the members will assist the party attacked. NATO’s military resources include more than 3 million troops under arms, 25,000 aircraft and 800 oceangoing warships, according to Foreign Policy. Economically, the alliance is also an intimidating force, representing more than 50 percent of global GDP.

This country clearly has no appetite for war. What happens if we politely decline? Would NATO fall apart? Is there a reason why we should care if it does?

(I know nothing about the source--it was just the first article that came up when I did a Google search, so my apologies if it's a RWNJ article.)