“Germany and France at Loggerheads over Arms Deal with Libya,” is the headline over the dispatch in Der Spiegel in respect of the quarrel that has broken out over President Sarkozy’s plan to sell 12 Tiger combat helicopters to Colonel Gadhafi. The helicopters are made by Eurocopter, a subsidiary of EADS, which is part-owned by the French government and part-owned by Daimler AG, a German company. Chancellor Merkel opposes the sale, Der Spiegel reports.

If this were a few years back, we’d be tempted to say that dividing the anti-American Old European Axis of France and Germany just might be the only redeeming virtue of the so-called disarmament deal that took Libya off the American list of state sponsors of terrorism and paved the way for the removal of sanctions on Tripoli.

But President Chirac and Chancellor Schroeder have been replaced by voters with leaders supposedly more friendly to America, and we’re all for a united, strong NATO. In this fight, mark us down with Ms. Merkel. If Mr. Sarkozy thinks that sending Colonel Gadhafi’s regime a dozen combat helicopters is going to advance the cause of peace or freedom in Europe or the Middle East, a lot of Americans are going to reach the conclusion that his brain has been addled. If it’s customers for helicopters that Sarko is seeking, better to set up a free and democratic opposition to Colonel Gadhafi and arm it.