Chuck Hagel

Influential panel calls for steep reduction of US nuclear weapons

An influential panel is calling for an 80 percent reduction of U.

S. nuclear weapons and an elimination of all nuclear armed intercontinental ballistic missiles.In a report for the advocacy group Global Zero, retired Gen. James Cartwright and others argue that the U.S. needs no more than 900 total nuclear weapons for its security in a post-Cold War world. The report chaired by Cartwright, a former vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff known to be close to President Barack Obama, comes at a time that the president is weighing a range of sharp nuclear reductions.The Obama administration is reportedly considering at least three options for lower total numbers of deployed strategic nuclear weapons: reducing their numbers to 1,000 to 1,100; 700 to 800; or 300 to 400. The Global Zero report calls for such weapons to be reduced to about 450, while maintaining an equal number of stored weapons.The U.S. and Russia have an estimated 5,000 nuclear weapons each, either deployed or in reserve. ...

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