WASHINGTON INSIGHT

RUSH TO THE U.N.: The Bush Administration is expected to move right after Thanksgiving to push through the United Nations Security Council a resolution authorizing use of military action to force Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait.

U.S. officials say they must move by the end of November, for tactical reasons and because the effort may be more difficult starting in December, when Yemen assumes the presidency of the Security Council.

President Bush hopes to spend part of his time in Europe and the Middle East this week rallying support for the resolution. Washington fears that Yemen and Cuba, which reluctantly supported previous resolutions against Iraq, will abstain--or even oppose--the measure, but officials want to be sure all 13 other member nations are behind it.

In addition to the basic resolution, U.S. officials also hope to push through companion measures demanding that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein be tried for war crimes and castigating Iraq for human-rights violations.

TRADE TROUBLES: Gloom pervades the mood of American and foreign trade officials in their outlook for the crucial round of global trade negotiations to convene in Brussels Dec. 3-7.

Although trade talks often become bogged down in stalemate just before the final round, the current impasse between the United States and the European Community--over how far to go in reducing barriers to agricultural trade--seems intractable.

Aides to U.S. Trade Representative Carla Anderson Hills say the Administration isn’t bluffing in its warning that the United States will walk out if the Europeans don’t come up with a less timid offer on cutting farm export subsidies. If Washington walks, the entire round will end in failure. “At this point, that’s a very distinct possibility,” one U.S. official said.

U.S. negotiators had hoped to enlist Bush in more active lobbying to push Brussels toward a compromise, but so far, the White House has shied away, contending the President doesn’t want to anger the Europeans while he needs their support in the Persian Gulf.

Best hope for the talks: that German Chancellor Helmut Kohl will push for new European farm concessions after the German elections, which are scheduled for Dec. 2, the day before the talks begin. If Kohl seemed likely to make a difference then, some say Hills would agree to extend the overall negotiations another month or two.

BITTER BATTLE: House Republicans are girded for a cat fight early next month, when they return to elect the leaders of the 102nd Congress.

Capitol watchers expect a bitter battle at nearly every level: Angry conservative lawmakers ponder trying to oust Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-Highland) from the chair of the Republican Conference, the party caucus. Lewis bolted from the conservative camp when he urged support for Bush’s acquiescence to raising tax rates for the rich.

“There is going to be blood on the floor of our conference,” warned one conservative, Rep. Robert K. Dornan (R-Garden Grove).

Lewis, in turn, is considering trying to unseat maverick Rep. Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) as House GOP whip. Gingrich is believed to be an easier target since he barely won reelection to his seat against a low-rated challenger.