You're comparing a theoretical idea (though it is a popular trope in near future science fiction) with an actual test of an existing system. I can also dream up many space weapons, that doesn't make it equivalent to building and using one.
Yet US built and used exactly the system described in an article - space shuttle, capable to maneuver in orbit and work on satellites
But the article doesn't actually say that at all... It explicitly says the US didn't build such a capability in space.