Clinton Says No to Withdrawing Nukes From Europe

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Thursday ruled out an early withdrawal of U.S. nuclear forces from Europe, telling a NATO meeting that any reductions should be tied to a nuclear pullback by Russia, which has far more of the weapons in range of European targets. Daryl Kimball of the Ploughshares-funded Arms Control Association, was critical of the tie to Russia.  "Linking removal of these militarily irrelevant weapons to Russian action on tactical nuclear reductions is naive and a recipe for inaction," he said. Some European members of NATO, including Germany, have said the time has come for the U.S. to withdraw its remaining Cold War-era nuclear weapons from Europe. They cite President Barack Obama's pledge in Prague last year to seek a nuclear-free world. The Germans were joined by fellow NATO members Belgium, the Netherlands, Norway and Luxembourg late last year in requesting that the nuclear issue be put on the NATO agenda.