Clinton talks tough about U.S. nuclear capabilities

Secretary Clinton was on not one, not two, but three talk shows yesterday morning. They were:

• ABC’s This Week
• CBS’s Face the Nation
• NBC’s Meet the Press

While today’s nuclear security summit is a step on President Obama’s path toward reducing the world’s stockpile of nuclear weapons, Clinton and Defense Secretary Robert Gates made remarks that seem to be aimed at reassuring American defense hawks that the United States will not be weak on national security, especially in light of the new START treaty. A couple of Clinton’s remarks on This Week:

[W]e’ll be, you know, stronger than anybody in the world, as we always have been, with more nuclear weapons than are needed many times over. And so we do not see this as in any way a diminishment of what we are able to do."

and

Let no one be mistaken. The United States will defend ourselves, and defend our partners and allies. We intend to sustain that nuclear deterrent by modernizing the existing stockpile."

In the photo above,  Clinton, Obama, and White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel walk yesterday from the White House to the Blair House for bilateral meetings with world leaders who are in Washington for the nuclear security summit. Today, Clinton’s schedule is packed with even more bilaterals.