Missile defense systems & other military muscle

Japanese officials said they have deployed their own Patriot missile batteries to Hiroshima and other areas that lie under the path that the North Korean missiles would take.

The U.S. also has 28,500 troops permanently stationed in South Korea and 54,000 troops in Japan.

According to the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting missile defense systems in the U.S., Guam is covered by an American missile defense system deployed permanently by the Pentagon at Andersen Air Force Base.

The setup includes a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system.

The U.S. successfully tested THAAD against a missile similar to those being prepared by Pyongyang. A THAAD system is also stationed in South Korea.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in is scheduled to meet with the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Joseph Dunford, on Monday.

Dunford said he aims to “sense what the temperature is in the region.”

He will discuss military options in the event the “diplomatic and economic pressurization campaign” fails.

Last week, it was reported that Pyongyang is capable of producing nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles, prompting Trump’s promise to rain down “fire and fury” on the isolated nation.

CIA Director Mike Pompeo dismissed reports that North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs are moving faster than previously thought.

“That’s actually not true,” he said. “It’s not moving faster than policymakers knew.”

Pompeo, appearing on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” said the U.S. was “not at an imminent risk of an attack taking place today” from North Korea.

“It’s not something that is imminent, and the American people should know that this administration is doing everything within its power, the President has enabled the intelligence community, the Department of Defense, to be sure that we’re protecting America from this threat.”

On Friday, Trump tweeted that “Military solutions are now fully in place, locked and loaded, should North Korea act unwisely. Hopefully Kim Jong Un will find another path!”

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) welcomed Trump’s fiery approach to diplomacy, arguing that many of the President’s critics had failed to stop North Korea from developing a nuclear weapon that could hit the United States.

“President Trump inherited a mess,” Graham said on “Fox News Sunday.”

“All those smart people who are criticizing his rhetoric and his policy, how well did you do?”