This is like promising someone you’ll buy them dinner, only to tell them surprise! it’s going to be a lonely bowl of tomato soup.

However, in this instance, it’s not food, it’s war — on ISIS (the Islamic State) — and its the country of Germany who’s skimping for just a toe in the water, rather than diving full-on in.

Because the news out of Berlin on Friday was this: German lawmakers gave the “thumbs up” to noncombat missions to aid the fight against ISIS in the Middle East — along with the other coalition members, including France (who explicitly asks for help after the horrible Paris attacks) and the leader, as always, the United States.

This from The New York Times:

In all, Germany plans to send up to six Tornado reconnaissance planes and a tanker aircraft, as well as the frigate to help protect the French aircraft carrier but won’t actively engage in combat.

A maximum contingent of 1,200 soldiers was also approved, serving as support troops in Turkey and elsewhere, including at headquarters operations in Qatar and Kuwait. The German mission is open-ended, but needs annual Parliamentary approval.

“There’s nothing in this mandate about the deployment of ground troops,” Merkel’s spokesman Steffen Seibert said Friday. “It’s not planned.”

“The goal is to fight and contain IS [ISIS], and destroy their safe havens and their ability to lead worldwide terror operations,” German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen told reporters.