U.S. Edging Toward Decision on New Nuclear Arms Cuts

Current and former U.S. officials say the Obama administration is edging toward decisions that would further shrink the U.S. nuclear arsenal, possibly to between 1,000 and 1,100 deployed warheads.

The potential reductions reflect new thinking on the role of nuclear weapons in an age of terror.

The cuts under consideration align with President Barack Obama's vision of trimming the nuclear arsenal without harming security in the short term, and in the longer term, eliminating nuclear weapons.

The White House has yet to announce any plan for reducing the number of nuclear weapons, beyond commitments made in a recently completed treaty with Russia, which obliges both to reduce deployed long-range nuclear warheads to no more than 1,550 by 2018. Russia already is below 1,500; the U.S. is a bit above 1,700.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)