Mr Bush argued all through his election campaign that it was vital to set up a system capable of defending America from ballistic missiles fired from countries such as North Korea, Iran and Iraq. Russian President Putin says the missile defence system will harm international relations The fact that his Defence Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, and his Secretary of State, Colin Powell, are both advocates, means that one way or another this is a policy initiative the Bush administration is pursuing with some vigour. But there are any number of minefields to be crossed along the way.
Supporters argue that it is a small price to pay for the foolproof defence of the nation.
But so far, NMD has proved to be anything but foolproof. Two of the first three tests of the systems failed. Of course, combat the threat from them, and you have also gone some way to addressing the potential threat from other countries. Not only would NMD give the US a strategic edge, it would also break the 1972 Anti Ballistic Missile Treaty signed with the Soviet Union. The Russians suggest that if that happened they would have no choice but to beef up their own armoury.