The Pentagon is starting work on a nuclear mission statement that envisions the US maintaining its atomic weapons stockpile for the next five to 10 years, a far more cautious stance than President Barack Obama's dream of a nuclear-free future.
The "nuclear posture review" due early next year will focus on the practical and nearer-term goal of deterring the use and spread of weapons, Pentagon officials said Thursday.
It is not likely to echo Obama's pledge to work for "global zero," or total eradication, as an explicit goal.
The Pentagon nuclear plan envisions possible reductions in the US arsenal while also ensuring that the US maintains a secure deterrent, said a senior defense official involved in the review.
