CRISIS IN THE PERSIAN GULF : Bush May Seek U.N. Censure of Iraq for Killings in Kuwait : Mideast: Sununu acknowledges that American support for gulf operations has dropped.

With American support for the Persian Gulf initiative apparently slipping, President Bush is preparing a new diplomatic initiative that would seek U.N. condemnation of Iraq for killing innocent Kuwaiti citizens, a top White House official said Sunday.

White House Chief of Staff John H. Sununu also indicated that such an initiative, which is currently under discussion among Administration officials, would not necessarily be limited to the reign of terror that Iraqi forces apparently have carried out since they invaded Kuwait more than two months ago.

“The President feels strongly that they ought to receive international condemnation, and there has been discussion of putting together a proposal for a resolution in the U.N. addressing that in particular, among other things,” Sununu said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

Such a request for U.N. sanctions focusing on Iraqi atrocities would likely help the President bolster support for the Persian Gulf operation, both at home and abroad. Sununu acknowledged that domestic support for the deployment of 200,000 U.S. troops in the Persian Gulf is not as strong as it was at the beginning of the effort.

“It should be no surprise that over a period of time, support for something like that does erode,” said Sununu. “I think the President has understood that all along.”

A newly published New York Times-CBS poll indicates that Bush’s popularity is slipping as a result of concerns among American citizens about the slumping economy and the prospects of war in the Middle East.

The poll found that 60% of the respondents approved of how Bush is handling his job, down from 76% in a similar poll taken immediately after the Administration began deploying troops to Saudi Arabia last August.

Approval of Bush’s handling of the Iraq crisis has fallen from 75% to 57%, it said.

A poll taken for The Times Mirror Center for The People & The Press and made public a week ago today showed similar results. It found that 55% of those surveyed approved of the way Bush was handling his job, compared to 76% in early August and 68% in September.

Sununu said that the President also is keenly aware of “the fragile nature” of the international coalition that has put a multinational, U.N.-backed force in the gulf region. He said that Bush will not be deterred from the goal of checking Iraqi aggression because of slight fluctuations in world and domestic opinion.

“The fact is that he is going to do what he has to do over whatever length of time it is to accomplish the goals he has laid out,” the White House official said.

To bolster support for the Persian Gulf initiative, Sununu predicted, the President will once again begin to discuss publicly why the United States has sent forces to the Persian Gulf and why it has pressed for sanctions against Iraq at the United Nations.

He also said that the Administration will resist strongly efforts by the Iraqis to dismantle the international coalition by seizing upon recent Israeli attacks on Palestinians.

“They’re going to try and resist that linkage,” he said. “They’re going to try and work the two problems separately, knowing full well . . . that there will be this constant effort to tie them together. And I can’t tell you specifically what will be done at what point, but that’s the general theme of the approach they’ve taken.”

Sununu offered no details of the new U.N. resolution currently under consideration in the Administration. Nor did he say what other issues might be brought to the United Nations for discussion by Bush in the near future.

“There have been discussions of going back to the U.N. As to the specific time, I can’t tell you,” he said. “But there are some concerns in particular about the terrible things that have been done in Kuwait, the dismantling of a population, the atrocities that have taken place there.”