WASHINGTON -- Thursday, July 23, 2009. A major nuclear weapons review under way at the Defense Department should result in "progress" toward implementing U.S. President Barack Obama's long-term vision for disarmament, a senior Pentagon official said today.
"The vision is clear and I think progress will be made," Michael Vickers, who advises Defense Secretary Robert Gates on strategic capabilities and operations, told reporters at a Defense Writers Group breakfast.
The Pentagon is leading the congressionally mandated Nuclear Posture Review, a sweeping assessment of nuclear strategy, forces and operations that is to conclude by the end of the year.
In an April speech in Prague, Obama pledged that "the United States will take concrete steps towards a world without nuclear weapons." He called the "existence of thousands of nuclear weapons" the "most dangerous legacy of the Cold War," vowing to launch negotiations with Moscow to take reductions in force levels. More >>>
