GOP turns its focus to N. Korea, terror

Two Senate committees and a House committee will hold hearings in coming days on how to prosecute Guantanamo Bay terror suspects. The panels will address the recent Supreme Court decision rejecting the Bush administration's use of a military commission to try the detainees.

GOP lawmakers are already accusing some Democrats of favoring ``special privileges for terrorists" by praising the high court ruling.

Meanwhile, some Republicans are turning the international crisis caused by North Korea's missile launch into a political weapon, assailing Democrats for not supporting full funding for the national missile defense program.

With public frustration over the war in Iraq growing, Democrats had begun to make headway earlier this year against the GOP's longtime political advantage on national security, an issue that helped Republicans maintain their majorities in the House and Senate in 2002 and 2004.

Polls this spring showed Democrats tied or even slightly ahead of Republicans on the question of whom voters trusted more to battle terrorism and keep the country safe, and Democrats insist they can make the issue theirs by election day.

But Republicans are now seeking to strengthen their public image on national security by seizing on North Korea and the Supreme Court ruling, as well as the decision by several newspapers to report on an international bank surveillance program that the US government is using to track the finances of suspected terrorists.

``When the discussion centered on the reasons why we got into Iraq, it was tough ground for the Republicans. For the longest period of time, Republicans could not buy a break," said Whit Ayres , a GOP consultant. But ``in recent weeks, the scales have been balanced. Now we can have a debate about whether the terrorists deserve the same legal rights as American men and women in uniform. I believe the Republicans will win that debate."

The hearings this week by the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Senate and House Armed Services committees are aimed at coming up with a way to try Guantanamo suspects that passes constitutional muster.

Some Republicans want to codify into law the military commission rejected by the Supreme Court. Democrats, while applauding the high court ruling as an affirmation of due process and the Geneva Conventions, have also said a new system must be created, but are urging that it be ``legitimate" in the eyes of both the court and the American public.

``The whole world is watching how our country handles this issue, and our committee will proceed on any legislation very carefully, in a bipartisan way, to ensure America's credibility," Senate Armed Services Committee chairman John Warner , Republican of Virginia, said Friday in announcing the hearings.

But while many Democrats and Republicans share a desire to create a system to deal with the Guantanamo decision, the issue itself helps Republicans, analysts say, by shifting the national security debate away from the daily news of death and instability in Iraq and toward efforts to capture and punish terrorist suspects.

In condemning the news media this month for publishing information about the SWIFT financial surveillance program, House Republicans also sought to move the focus -- and the blame -- away from the administration for its handling of Iraq.

``It's not exactly an ace in the hole, but it's a good, solid king or queen," said John Zogby , an independent pollster. ``They have the opportunity to frame [the debate] where, at best, Democrats can be reactive."

After North Korea launched a series of missiles into the Sea of Japan last week, Republicans moved quickly to blame Democrats for failing to support the missile defense program meant to shield the nation from an attack.

``I just want to make the point that Democrats, the majority of Democrats, have really not been supportive of the funding. Republicans have tried through decades to move this forward, to get the funding that's necessary to have a missile defense system that is complete," Senator Elizabeth Dole , Republican of North Carolina and chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said last week.

``I am just trying to underscore that as we go into the election in just four months," she added. ``I think it's important to remember the party that has been out in front leading the way, whether it's the Patriot Act and whether it's missile defense."

In Pennsylvania, the campaign of Republican Representative Curt Weldon slammed Democratic opponent Joe Sestak , saying Sestak failed to take a hard enough line against North Korea when Sestak worked as a defense policy adviser to former President Clinton.

But Democrats say the mounting death toll in Iraq is leading voters to question whether the White House and GOP members of Congress are succeeding in making the country safe from terrorist threats.

Mirroring other surveys, a Washington Post-ABC poll in April showed that Americans trusted Democrats to handle the battle against terrorism 46 to 45 percent over Republicans -- a tiny but startling edge for a party that has long lagged behind Republicans on national security in national polls.

``I don't think anything is going to change people's minds except change on the ground in Iraq," said Representative John Murtha , a Pennsylvania Democrat and decorated veteran who supported the war but now wants a troop withdrawal.

``They've lost the ability to convince the American people" that the war has been a success, he said, and shifting the debate to matters like the prosecution of Guantanamo Bay detainees or the missile defense program are not going to gain traction, he said. ``They're not going to be able to distract from the realities."

Meanwhile, the public has been giving the Bush administration poor grades for handling the war in Iraq, with strong majorities now saying the war was a mistake and that the level of casualties is unacceptable -- trends the Democrats intend to underscore in the coming months.

House Democrats this week are set to restart ``Iraq Watch," during which Democratic lawmakers spend hours criticizing Bush's Iraq policy on the House floor. While the discussion occurs during ``special orders," after official debate and votes are finished for the day, the late-night sessions have drawn a lot of attention from Internet bloggers who then reference the remarks on their websites.

``The one issue they [Republicans] have is national security. Anything they do that focuses attention on national security brings a marginal benefit," said Mark Mellman , a Democratic consultant. But since 2004, the public mood on Iraq has shifted dramatically and now threatens Republican campaigns, he added. ``Republicans have lost a lot of credibility on national security, and Democrats have gained" on the issue, he said.