No first nuke?
Should America abandon the first strike? That is apparently at the heart of a meeting today between President Obama and defence secretary Robert Gates.
They are working on a document called the Nuclear Posture Review. .
A senior administration official has told the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ there will be a "dramatic reductions in the nuclear stockpile, while maintaining a strong and reliable deterrent".
When the paper becomes public the president will announce that he's getting rid of thousands of weapons, and won't develop a proposed by George W Bush.
Instead there will be a new focus on how conventional missiles will be used. All this is in line with .
Those who've talked with him in private about the issue have no doubt this is a personal priority, not a political stance.
The that one huge issue has yet to be settled. When should nuclear weapons be used?
The left of the president's party says there should be working to make it clear they are only there as a deterrence.
Others want to leave open the possibility of a first strike. I can't see the military wanting to shut off their options, or the president defying them.
I’m Mark Mardell, the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳'s North America editor. These are my reflections on American politics, some thoughts on being a Brit living in the USA, and who knows what else? My 
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