But the Bush team is reading too much into what happened there. The Brits believed it made more sense to use diplomatic chits to help shape the program. At the conference, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Washington would indeed proceed with missile defense, and the Europeans realized London had been right. The Euros are resigned to, not pleased by, plans they believe will create an easily evaded, high-tech Maginot Line. They think an adversary could simply and cheaply shift to bombs on ships or in suitcases to get around a missile shield.
Reasonable people can differ on policy, of course.
And the U.S. is entitled to its own perspective. It may well have considerations that set it apart. After all, the U.S. is the Great Satan in some quarters and more of a target for, say, Islamic fundamentalists than are France or Italy. And America performs more of a global-cop role than any other country, which makes it vulnerable to potential backlashes. My hunch is the arrogance of Bush foreign policy and changes in the world since the Republicans last were in power will make it much harder for the Administration to achieve its goals.