Army Would Give the U.N. New Punch : Military: Mitterrand’s proposal for a standing force draws endorsements and skepticism.

Creating a standing army under the control of the United Nations Security Council would give the world organization a military punch it has never had before and could convert it into a full-time international police department.

The proposal for such a force, advanced by French President Francois Mitterrand and immediately endorsed by Russian President Boris N. Yeltsin and the Hungarian government, would permit the Security Council to act on short notice to stop atrocities such as Iraq’s repression of its Kurdish population and, perhaps, to enforce cease-fires in wars such as the one now occurring in Yugoslavia.

If adopted--and some other world leaders at the U.N. summit Friday were clearly skeptical--the plan would mark the transformation of the Security Council from a Cold War-hobbled debating society to an organization with the power to enforce its decisions and to prevent breaches of the peace before they have a chance to get started.

In its 47-year history, the U.N. Security Council has authorized two shooting wars, in Korea in 1952 and in the Persian Gulf last year. But in both conflicts, the United States took the lead, organizing the allied coalitions and providing the generals in overall command.

In addition, the United Nations has mounted 23 peacekeeping operations, sending a total of 537,700 soldiers to hot spots ranging from the Middle East to Cambodia. But these forces were sent only after cease-fires were in place. Although the troops carried personal weapons, they were under orders to withdraw rather than fight if the cease-fires broke down.

Presumably the force that Mitterrand envisions would operate under the command of the U.N. Military Staff Committee, a little known and up-to-now impotent panel of military officers from the Security Council’s five permanent members--the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China.

Although the committee is authorized, on paper, to command forces placed at the disposal of the Security Council, it has never done so because of Cold War rivalries that made it impossible for the United States and the Soviet Union to agree on concerted military action. The committee took no part in the Korean War because Moscow was boycotting the United Nations at the time. It did not function in the Gulf War, although there were suggestions that it should, because it was bypassed by the U.S.-organized coalition.

Mitterrand said France is prepared to commit 1,000 troops to a quick-deployment U.N. force, with a promise of 1,000 more within a week “if conditions warrant.” Yeltsin quickly took him up on it: “We need a special quick-response mechanism . . . to ensure peace and stability. Upon decision of the Security Council it could be expeditiously activated in areas of crisis.”

Although supporters of the idea provided few other details, presumably member-donated troops would remain with their national armies unless mobilized by the United Nations.