US considering possible Middle East missile defense
The US military is considering sending its THAAD missile defense system to the Middle East, a senior US Army general said on Wednesday, citing what he called an urgent need to respond to foes with missile systems and the will to use them.
General Vincent Brooks, head of US Army Pacific Command, said no decisions had been made about deploying a US-owned Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery in the Middle East or South Korea, another region where he saw an urgent need given the threat posed by North Korea.
"The need is there in ... those two places, urgently, because we have adversaries who have capability and they have demonstrated that they are willing to use it," Brooks told Reuters in an interview.
Brooks did not name Iran, but US military officials have raised concerns in the past about Iran's development of longer-range missiles that could reach Israel and potentially Europe.
