Gates: Oversight, Modernization Critical to U.S. Nuclear Deterrent

By Donna MilesAmerican Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Oct. 28, 2008 – Calling nuclear weapons one of the world’s "messy realities," Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said today that as long as other nations that could potentially use them against the U.S. and its interests possess or seek them, it's critical that the United States does as well, and that they be kept safe, secure and reliable.
Gates noted in a speech to the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace that the United States soon will have 75 percent fewer nuclear weapons than at the end of the Cold War.

More coverage to follow.