U.N. Chief Stresses Military Power : Peacekeeping: Strength is key to missions, Boutros-Ghali tells West Point cadets.

Taking on the Clinton Administration once again, Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali addressed the West Point cadets Thursday night and insisted that the United Nations must use military power to deal with crises such as Somalia or face “the spread of anarchy.”

The secretary general, who vehemently opposes President Clinton’s decision to withdraw American troops from the Somali mission by March 31, told the future U.S. military officers: “Peace enforcement must be an option, for diplomacy without strength will not be regarded as serious.”

Shortly after Boutros-Ghali spoke at the U.S. Military Academy north of New York City, the 15 members of the Security Council unanimously passed a resolution extending the U.N. mission in Somalia for six more months, 45 days beyond the date of the scheduled American withdrawal.

The council, however, put off for two to three months any decision about officially changing the character of the mission. In a report earlier this week, Boutros-Ghali told the council that, in view of the anticipated American withdrawal, the council would soon have to decide whether to maintain, restrict or eliminate the authority of U.N. troops to use force in Somalia.

In a short speech to the council, U.S. Ambassador Madeleine Albright made no reference to the U.S. withdrawal. “With this vote today,” she said, “this council demonstrates that it will not abandon Somalia, and pledges that it will help the people of this shattered land rebuild their lives and their country.”

But she added: “This resolution also sends a message to the Somali people that the United Nations can only help. The Somali people must show the will and the courage to bring about true national reconciliation.”

This rhetoric reflects U.S. hopes that the various antagonistic Somali factions will reach a political settlement before the Americans leave. Ambassador Roble Olhaye of Djibouti warned the council, however, that some of the Somali warlords may use the next few months to store arms rather than negotiate a political settlement.

Smarting since Washington blamed him and the United Nations for the costly raid that resulted in the deaths of 18 U.S. soldiers Oct. 3, Boutros-Ghali embarked on a campaign three weeks ago to set down in speeches his theory of the need for the use of U.N. military force in devastated areas such as Somalia. He believes that this need cannot be met if the United States abandons U.N. military missions.

In his West Point speech, Boutros-Ghali said the current era, with all its ethnic conflicts, “over time . . . may become more dangerous than the (Cold War) era just behind us.”

Although he did not mention the United States by name, there was no doubt that the secretary general had the Clinton Administration clearly in mind when he criticized countries that shirk their obligations.

“Troop-contributing countries are entitled to know, to the extent possible, the length of their obligation,” he said. “By the same token, they should be expected to carry out that obligation in full.”

Boutros-Ghali insisted that the international community has little choice but to deal with problems such as Somalia through U.N. peace enforcement which, he said, involves “coercion and risk.”

“We must not delude ourselves,” he said. “Inaction will mean the spread of anarchy. But action will be long and difficult. . . . And it will take international solidarity. That is what I call for tonight.”

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In his report earlier this week, Boutros-Ghali set down three feasible U.N. options in Somalia:

* Continue the current authority and capability of the 29,000 U.N. troops “for coercive disarmament and retaliation against attacks on its personnel.”

* Remove the authority of the troops to “use coercive methods anywhere in the country,” leaving the United Nations with only the power of persuasion in trying to disarm the factions.

* Limit the U.N. role mainly to controlling the airports and ports of Somalia and to assisting in the delivery of humanitarian aid.

Boutros-Ghali said that a complete withdrawal from Somalia is a fourth option, but “I myself would reject this possibility.”

He used the report to put on the record for the first time that the disastrous Ranger operation Oct. 3 was launched by American, not U.N., commanders. This has been confirmed by U.S. sources.

“The planning and execution of the Ranger operation . . . was decided by United States commanders and carried out by United States forces that were deployed in support of the (U.N.) mandate but were not under United Nations command or authority,” Boutros-Ghali said.

The 18 Americans died in the aftermath of a raid to seize supporters of Mohammed Farah Aidid, the warlord accused of ordering the ambush and killing of 24 Pakistani U.N. troops on June 5. At U.S. urging, the Security Council unanimously passed a resolution Tuesday calling off the hunt for Aidid and establishing a commission to investigate the attacks on peacekeepers.

In other action this week, the Security Council, wary of getting embroiled in new large-scale peacekeeping operations, authorized the secretary general to send no more than a small fact-finding team to Burundi to investigate the massive tribal killings that followed a recent coup attempt there.