WASHINGTON INSIGHT

ENFORCERS FEUD: As pressure grows on the FBI from new accusations surrounding the agency’s conduct following the 1992 siege of a white separatist’s cabin in Ruby Ridge, Ida., the Justice Department’s high command and the FBI director are trading accusations at a level rarely seen. At issue: Whether FBI Director Louis J. Freeh decided on his own to remove Larry Potts as deputy director after the Ruby Ridge investigation was reopened by the Justice Department’s internal watchdog, or whether Atty. Gen. Janet Reno, whose many responsibilities include oversight of the FBI, and Deputy Atty. Gen. Jamie S. Gorelick strongly suggested that Freeh take the step. Although none of the officials will address the point publicly, aides to Reno and Gorelick are arguing they recommended that Freeh replace Potts. A senior FBI official counters that demoting Potts, a longtime associate and friend, was the FBI director’s idea alone after he learned that the investigation into Ruby Ridge may have been flawed. You have to turn the clock back more than three decades, to the battles between FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover and Atty. Gen. Robert F. Kennedy, to find such a testy and open breach between Justice and the FBI high command.

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SOVIET WIT: For decades Americans viewed the former Soviet Union as a place devoid of color and humor. So bust another myth. Translations of intercepted KGB messages released by the CIA last week revealed more than a smidgen of gallows humor during the Cold War. As CIA Director John M. Deutch noted, the KGB code name for Washington was Carthage, while New York was Tyre, and San Francisco was dubbed Babylon--all ancient cities that fell into ruin.

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TAKING AIM: Congress is planning to investigate the Pentagon’s handling of the April, 1994, downing of two Army helicopters by a pair of Air Force F-15 fighter planes over northern Iraq. Although the lawmakers have not announced it yet, the House National Security Committee is preparing to call witnesses to delve into why the tragedy occurred and whether the Air Force fulfilled its pledge to hold accountable those who were responsible. Although Defense Secretary William J. Perry assigned blame throughout the chain-of-command, no one was severely punished. Two generals received letters of admonishment. But critics warn it is not clear yet whether the committee will turn up anything new. Conspicuously missing from its initial list of witnesses will be any of the major players in the case--the two generals, the pilots of the two F-15s, and Air Force Capt. Jim Wang, the supervisor aboard the radar-warning plane that was supposed to have monitored both sets of aircraft that day. Wang was court-martialed, but later acquitted. In all, 26 persons died as a result of the error.

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OH, BABY: In recent weeks, President Clinton has begun voicing worries that yuppies aren’t having enough children for the nation’s well-being. “We have more and more young couples where both of them are working and having careers and deferring child-bearing, and in many cases not having children at all,” he said. “That . . . is a very troubling thing for our country: The people in the best position to build strong kids, and bring up kids in a good way, are deciding not to do so.” Aides say Clinton apparently learned about the declining birthrate in his voracious reading. The President suggests better child care might help encourage two-career couples to have more children. The Clintons have one child, Chelsea, 15.