At this point, the New START arms-control treaty with Russia has been endorsed by:

• All of the current U.S. military leadership
• 7  former commanders of U.S. Strategic Command
• 5 former defense secretaries
• 3 former national security advisors
• 6 former secretaries of state

By now it should be a no-brainer that the U.S. Senate should ratify this important treaty, but some senators still need convincing.

Thus, today in a Washington Post op-ed, Secretary Clinton and Defense Secretary Robert Gates are calling on the U.S. Senate to ratify New START. The duo write that the treaty will allow U.S. inspectors to resume inspecting Russian nuclear forces, including 18 short-notice inspections per year, after a break in inspections since the previous START Treaty -- negotiated by Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush -- expired in December 2009.  New START will also put into effect a verification regime under which the United States and Russia will reduce their arsenals to 1,550 strategic warheads each.

Clinton and Gates write that the treaty will promote key U.S. national security objectives, including: "Reducing the number of deployed nuclear weapons while retaining a safe and effective deterrent; providing direct insight into Russia's nuclear arsenal; and creating a more stable, predictable and cooperative relationship between the world's two leading nuclear powers."

The two secretaries stress that the New START treaty will neither limit the United States in  deploying missile defenses nor constrain its modernization of nuclear forces. It also won't restrict U.S. deployment of conventional weapons, "including strike systems that could potentially hit a target anywhere on the globe in less than an hour."

This isn't a Democrat vs. Republican issue. Clinton and Gates point out that every U.S. president since the start of the Cold War has favored verifiable arms-control agreements and that the Senate has wholeheartedly approved these deals. In 1992 in a 93-6 vote, it approved the START Treaty, negotiated under Reagan and the first Bush. In 2003 in a 95-0 vote, it approved the Moscow Treaty, negotiated by George W. Bush. 

The Senate needs to push New START through so U.S. inspectors can get back to inspecting those Russian missile silos and the United States can continue advancing its national security.

Secretary Clinton says yesterday's U.N. Security Council resolution sends an "unambiguous signal" to Iran that it will be held responsible for actions it takes to develop nuclear weapons.

In a statement issued yesterday about the resolution, which places even more sanctions on Iran, Clinton said:

I commend the United Nations Security Council for its adoption today of UN Security Council Resolution 1929, aimed at addressing the international community's concerns regarding Iran's nuclear program.…

This resolution sends an unambiguous signal to Iran that the international community holds it accountable for its actions. The measures in this resolution go well beyond the pre-existing sanctions on Iran. That said, we have worked hard to minimize their impact on the Iranian people. They target instead elements within the Iranian government, with the aim of changing the leadership's calculations.…

The United States is committed to a diplomatic solution to the challenge posed by Iran's nuclear program and we hope the Council's adoption of this resolution will make clear to Iran's leaders the choice that is before them: how much they have to gain from real engagement with the international community, and how much more they stand to lose from continuing down their current path.

The big question, though, is: Will the sanctions work? The recent FP piece, "Weak Tea," argues that this latest round of sanctions has been watered down to the point that they will be "ineffective."

Update: Clinton's impromptu remarks about the resolution, including her reaction to Brazil's and Turkey's no votes, are here.

(In the photo above, Clinton leads a U.N. Security Council session on Sept. 30, 2009.)

With a possible U.N. Security Council vote on a sanctions resolution against Iran this week, Secretary Clinton declared yesterday:

"I fully expect Iran to pull some stunt in the next couple of days because they know that sanctions are on the way."

According to the Associated Press, her tough words also included:

"I think we will see something coming up in the next 24 to 48 hours where Iran says, 'Wait a minute, wait a minute, look at what we're going to do now.'"

Clinton made the remarks as she departed on trip to Latin America, where she is expected to urge Brazil, an elected Security Council member that doesn't support U.N. sanctions against Iran, to come over to the U.S. side on the issue. As explained in the recent FP piece, "Ahmadinejad's Sugar Daddy," Brazilian ethanol could help Iran outwit the United States on sanctions.

Just a couple of weeks ago at the Brookings Institution, as seen above, Clinton said, "We think buying time for Iran, enabling Iran to avoid international unity with respect to their nuclear program, makes the world more dangerous not less."

At 3:15 this afternoon, Secretary Clinton delivered a speech in New York at the U.N. Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. At the conclusion of her remarks, she said:

The last 40 years have proved that nuclear proliferation is not inevitable. We believe it can be stopped, but it will take all of us here recognizing common dangers and finding common ground, rolling up our sleeves and getting creative, taking practical steps together in the next month.

A lot of skeptics out there say that when countries gather at the United Nations, nothing happens but a lot of words are used up. Well, it is up to us at this conference to prove those doubters wrong.… [O]ur children and our grandchildren will live with the consequences of what we decide this month. Whether the world is more or less secure depends on the path we take, and there is no greater reason than that to find a way to act together and to act decisively.

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.

At noon today in Washington, Secretary Clinton participated in a news briefing on the new U.S. Nuclear Posture Review.

This morning, Secretary Clinton spoke at a White House news conference about the new U.S.-Russia nuclear-arms reduction treaty that President Obama just concluded with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev (which involved much hard work and diplomacy from Clinton herself).

As FP's The Cable reports, Senate Republicans might not be too gung-ho about ratifying the treaty due to concerns about how it might hurt U.S. missile defense efforts. Regarding Clinton's take on the issue, The Cable reports:

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton diplomatically avoided a direct question about missile defense at this morning's briefing.

"We're focused on ratification, we're going to engage deeply and broadly with all members of the Senate," she said. "We're confident we'll be able to make the case for ratification."

She also pointed out that almost all previous arms reductions treaty garnered overwhelming support in the Senate. "There should be very broad, bipartisan support," Clinton said.

A quick list of all things Hillary Clinton:

•ISRAEL: On Friday, Secretary Clinton made a stern call to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the East Jerusalem housing-project* announcement made during Vice President Joe Biden's visit last week. Clinton also told CNN's Jill Dougherty that Israel's announcement was "insulting" to the United States. (See video below.) Clinton also spoke with NBC's Andrea Mitchell about the same topic (with transcript here and video excerpt here).

•RUSSIA/NUKES: Clinton is headed to Russia this week, where  she'll meet with President Dmitry Medvedev to discuss negotiations that have been going on for the new START arms-reduction treaty.

•HUMAN RIGHTS: Remember how I mentioned that the United States isn't on the list of country's in the State Department's annual "Country Reports on Human Rights Practices"? Well, it turns out that  Clinton announced that the State Department will be preparing a human rights report on the United States itself.

•HAITI: This morning, Clinton (as seen above) hosted an appreciation event for employees, diplomats, and volunteers from the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, for their work after January's devastating earthquake. (Right before than, Clinton attended a ribbon-cutting ceremony for employee showers at the State Department's Harry S. Truman Building.)

•WOMEN: CNN's Jill Dougherty asks, "How can Clinton help women?" 

•MEXICO: Clinton offered her "deepest sympathies" to the family and friends of the three people connected to the U.S. Consulate in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, who were murdered over the weekend.

•PAKISTAN/TERRORISM: Clinton extended her "deepest sympathy" for those affected by the multiple bombings in Lahore, Pakistan, on Friday.

*Update, March 23: The phrase "East Jerusalem housing-project announcement" corrects the original phrase, "settlements announcement."

Clinton says she thinks Pakistan's nuclear weapons are secure and protected. In an interview with the German magazine Der Spiegel on Monday, she said: "… the nuclear arsenal that Pakistan has, I believe is secure. I think that the government and the military have taken adequate steps to protect that."

I really hope Clinton is right, because the prospect of nukes getting into the hands of Islamist extremists is frightening. As Clinton herself acknowledged in the interview, "… the safe haven that al Qaeda has found in Pakistan is very troubling. They are still actively engaged with the elements of the Pakistani Taliban that are threatening the state of Pakistan."

If the state of Pakistan is indeed threatened, then it seems that doesn't bode well for the security of the nuclear arms.

Last week, Secretary Clinton penned a piece exclusively for FP. In it, she discusses how the United States is working to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons, promote disarmament, and facilitate the peaceful use of nuclear energy. An excerpt is below, but read the whole thing here.

The most effective way to reduce the threat of nuclear terrorism is to ensure that nuclear materials that can be used to build weapons are well protected against theft or seizure. That is why the United States has proposed a plan to secure all vulnerable nuclear material worldwide within four years -- a plan that has now won the endorsement of the U.N. Security Council.

We will use financial and legal tools to better disrupt illicit proliferation networks, including by tightening controls on transshipment, a key source of illicit trade. We will seek to strengthen Nuclear Suppliers Group restrictions on transfers of enrichment and reprocessing technology. And we will also promote multilateral nuclear fuel supply and spent fuel arrangements so that states embarking on or expanding nuclear power programs can pursue their civil nuclear plans without going to the great expense and difficulty of building their own enrichment or reprocessing plants.

Photo: Mark Wilson/Getty Images

Secretary Clinton was on TV yesterday! In a Face the Nation interview that was pre-taped Friday, Clinton talked about the recent news of Iran's secret nuclear facility and the upcoming Oct. 1 meeting between representatives of Iran and the P5+1 countries -- Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia, and the United States.

Clinton said of Iran, its nuclear facility, and the Oct. 1 meeting:

We don't believe that they can present convincing evidence that it's only for peaceful purposes, but we are going to put them to the test on October 1st."

When asked, "What can Iran say in this meeting to say we're really -- all all we're trying to do is make electricity?", Clinton bluntly replied:

Well, they can't say anything because they've said that for years, but they can open up their entire system to the kind of extensive investigation that the facts call for."

When interviewer Harry Smith asked Clinton about the "crippling sanctions" that Clinton said should be put in place if diplomacy with Iran fails, she replied:

Well, Harry, we're exploring how you broaden and deepen sanctions. Now sanctions are already in place as you know, but like many sanction regimes they're leaky. But in the last eight months since we've been dealing with North Korea on a similar set of issues we have forged an international consensus around very tough sanctions. And that's given us some additional information about how to proceed on the Iranian front."

When the interview switched to Pakistan, Clinton had complimentary words:

HARRY SMITH: Is Pakistan doing enough to clean up its own house?

HILLARY CLINTON: Well, look at, again, what has happened in the last nine months. Pakistan has increased its commitment in the fight against the Taliban and al Qaeda.

HARRY SMITH (overlapping): They were successful in Swat valley.

HILLARY CLINTON: Absolutely successful.

Clinton did add, though, that the United States is working for even more action from Pakistan.

Meanwhile, husband Bill was on Meet the Press. When asked about the presence of Hillary's famously worded "vast right-wing conspiracy," Bill said:

It's not as strong as it was, because America's changed demographically, but it's as virulent as it was."

And when asked whether Hillary will ever run for president again, Bill replied:

That's up to her. I don't -- you know, we're not getting any younger. But I'm proud of what she's doing now. I think she's doing a good job and I'm honored that -- I think it's pretty thrilling that she and the president have established the relationship they have. And it's a good argument for reconciliation and remembering the big things for all the rest of us."

Secretary Clinton, seen above with Bangladeshi Foreign Minister Dipu Moni on Sept. 16, will be giving a speech Friday morning at the Brookings Institution. I've RSVPed to attend, so I'll report back what I can. The speech is supposed to outline the United States' goals for next week's U.N. General Assembly session. In today's press briefing, Clinton's spokesman said she would discuss nonproliferation, Iran, North Korea, Afghanistan, food security, and violence against women and girls.

Other Clinton news:

•Clinton says the United States will discuss nukes during talks with Iran on Oct. 1. Iran is saying that won't happen.

•Matt Latimer, a former speechwriter for George W. Bush, says that Bush thought Clinton would end up as the Democratic presidential nominee. In GQ magazine, Latimer claims that Bush said the following about Clinton:

"Wait till her fat keister is sitting at this desk," he once said (except he didn't say "keister").

•Clinton is concerned about Venezuela's arms purchases.

•Is Clinton scheduling a visit to Pakistan for this fall?

•Clinton will lead a U.S. delegation at a conference on the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, the first time the United States has attended the biennial conference since 1999.

Photo: JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images

As you might have noticed today, one of the four square thumbnail photos on the FP home page has a photo of Secretary Clinton and the words: "Did Clinton Make a Gaffe Nobody Noticed?"

The words link to a post on The Cable about something Clinton said on Sunday's Meet the Press. Addressing Iran, she said:

You have a right to pursue the peaceful use of civil nuclear power. You do not have a right to obtain a nuclear weapon. You do not have the right to have the full enrichment and reprocessing cycle under your control."

Apparently, whether Iran has the right to enrich is up for debate. According to Rozen's piece, many nonproliferation experts think Iran does have the right. Others, however, say Iran has lost that right because it violated conditions of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), namely by hiding many of its nuclear activities for 18 years.

Did Clinton misspeak and thereby make a gaffe? Absolutely not. She was simply stating the United States' position -- held under both the Obama and George W. Bush administrations -- that Iran has forfeited its right to enrich because it didn't meet the terms of the NPT. An administration official told The Cable via e-mail: "She stated existing USG [U.S. government] policy, verbatim. So your folks are just plain wrong."

Photo: Thumbnail photo from Meet the Press

While in Mumbai, India, Secretary Clinton is staying in a three-room suite at the iconic Taj Mahal Palace & Tower hotel, which was badly damaged during last November's terrorist siege of the city. The entire floor she's staying on has been cordoned off, and about 200 police officers are stationed around the hotel, reports German press agency Deutsche Presse-Agentur.

On Saturday, Clinton is expected to engage in remembrance events for the victims of the siege, including visits to attack sites and meeting with survivors. On Sunday, she'll be off to New Delhi, the capital.

Although Clinton with be discussing how India and the United States can strengthen their strategic partnership and forge initiatives in a number of areas -- counterterrorism, trade, agriculture, etc. -- an important focus of her talks will be nuclear cooperation. The two countries signed an important deal last year that permits American companies to sell nuclear material and equiment to India for civilian use even though India hasn't signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

It is also expected that there will be an announcement of two sites for nuclear power plants to be built by American companies for $10 billion.

Photo: INDRANIL MUKHERJEE/AFP/Getty Images