BULLIES BULLY WHEN NO ONE STOPS THEM - AT 7:22 A.M. ET:  North Korea continues its bluster, but this is a first.  From Fox:

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea said Tuesday it would use nuclear weapons in a "merciless offensive" if provoked — its latest bellicose rhetoric apparently aimed at deterring any international punishment for its recent atomic test blast.

Pyongyang raised tensions a notch by reviving its rhetoric in a commentary in the state-run Minju Joson newspaper Tuesday.

"Our nuclear deterrent will be a strong defensive means ... as well as a merciless offensive means to deal a just retaliatory strike to those who touch the country's dignity and sovereignty even a bit," said the commentary, carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.

It appeared to be the first time that North Korea referred to its nuclear arsenal as "offensive" in nature. Pyongyang has long claimed that its nuclear weapons program is a deterrent and only for self-defense against what it calls U.S. attempts to invade it.

COMMENT:  Of course, North Korea now holds two American hostages, those reporters just convicted on trumped-up spy charges.  Our response?  So far, just words, and an assurance from our ineffective secretary of state, who never forgets for one minute that she's a lawyer, that we're working all channels to secure the release of our citizens.

That is nonsense.  If North Korea wanted to release them, it would release them.  They will be released when North Korea gets something in return.  We are losing whatever fight we've been waging against North Korea, and Americans had better understand that.

June 9, 2009