More From The Gang That Can't Shoot Straight

Once again the current administration has stumbled badly when it comes to a project it has declared it absolutely must have. It now looks like the long-range missile defense system to be parked in Europe just might not come to pass. From the Los Angeles Times:

For months, the Bush administration has courted Russian President Vladimir V. Putin to gain assent for its plans to build a long-range missile defense system in Eastern Europe.

But the focus on Moscow may be misplaced. In the three capitals where legislatures must approve the system before ground is broken — Washington, Prague and Warsaw — support is thin and fading.

This growing opposition, detailed in interviews with current and former officials in the three countries, reflects what politicians and analysts view as the administration's mishandling of the issue and President Bush's rapidly declining influence both on Capitol Hill and among once-stalwart allies in what his administration has called "new Europe." [Emphasis added]

In other words, it's not just Russian intransigence that has become a problem. The administration has managed to bungle the plans with Congress and with the two countries that were supposed to be sites for the planned installations.

In Washington, the House has approved legislation that strips funding for the tracking radar in the Czech Republic and silos for 10 interceptor missiles in Poland, meant to defend against a possible Iranian missile attack. Senate approval of a plan to cut funding could come within weeks, a reflection of both chambers' concern that allies have not been properly consulted and that the Pentagon has yet to prove the system actually works. ...

...the most heated debate has come in Poland, where many believe Warsaw has done a series of favors for the U.S., including sending troops to Iraq, without reciprocation.

"There is this general idea that Poland has supported the United States in Iraq in 2003 and we got very little in return — or we got nothing in return — and we should not repeat the same mistakes we made then," said Piotr Maciej Kaczynski, an analyst at the Institute for Public Affairs in Warsaw.

One powerful opponent is former Polish Defense Minister Radoslaw "Radek" Sikorski, an Oxford-educated senator from the governing Law and Justice Party who resigned his Cabinet post in February.

Sikorski, who also has close ties to U.S. policymakers, has argued that the system actually could endanger Poland. Russia has threatened to aim short-range missiles at Poland if the U.S. base is allowed. Sikorski has insisted on sweeteners, including increased American protection against any Russian aggression. ...

There are signs that the Czech public is becoming more active in its opposition. Officials in towns near the planned radar site have banded together to oppose construction. More than 25 towns and villages have voted against it in referendums, said Jan Tamas, president of the Humanist Party, which opposes the system and is represented in local councils but not the Parliament. ...

Any intensification of public opposition could spell trouble for the government in Prague, whose allies have a razor-thin majority in Parliament.

The missile defense system being contemplated is extremely expensive and, at least at this point, doesn't appear to be reliable. Tests on the version contemplated for the West Coast of the US have for the most part failed. But that's only half the problem. The other half is that the White House just assumed that simply expressing its desire for the project would be enough to get it done. It made no meaningful effort to "sell" the project to Congress nor did it make any realistic effort to convince Poland and the Czech Republic that the system would inure to both countries' benefit. In other words, the White House screwed up, and royally.

Thankfully, the days of the Imperial Presidency are numbered.