A prep course for the month-long World Cup soccer tournament, a worldwide pheno

arian-relief operations . These are the areas where the United Nations has achie

ved most of its greatest successes . As we have seen in Bosnia , however , once 

the Security Council approves military actions , U.N. mediators and relief worke

rs lose the shield of neutrality . What can be done ? The Clinton administration

 has taken a series of steps in the right direction . A presidential directive e

arlier this month establishes criteria that will greatly restrict the kinds of p

eacekeeping operations Washington will support . One result is that the administ

ration has been reluctant to back deployment of soldiers in Rwanda . But it has 

not gone far enough . Over the long run , the only kind of policy that is likely

 to succeed is one that combines a blanket prohibition against U.N. military int

ervention in combat situations with serious efforts to bolster the nonmilitary o

perations of the United Nations to head off violent conflict and alleviate human

 suffering . It may be necessary for the United States and other countries to in

tervene for humanitarian reasons in conflicts such as Rwanda . And , over time ,

 it may be possible for regional organizations to develop the military capabilit

ies and decision-making structures needed for intervention . But these intervent

ions are likely to be far more timely and successful if the United Nations is no

t involved . For example , the only opportunity to stop the violence in Rwanda t

hrough armed action was probably in the first hours after Rwandan government for

ces began to slaughter their opponents in Kigali . If the United States , France

 and Belgium had been willing to send troops in then , they probably could have 

prevented the killing from reaching such horrific proportions . Waiting for Secu

rity Council authorization would scuttle any such undertaking . As it is , the i

dea that such interventions are a U.N. responsibility provides a convenient rati

onale for Washington and other powers to stay on the sidelines . Rather than dec

ry the international community 's failure to support his calls for military acti

on in Rwanda , Boutros-Ghali should direct his attention to developing ways to p

revent future Rwandas . One would be to push for the creation of an internationa

l criminal court that would be responsible for investigating crimes against huma

nity and gross human-rights violations . If such a court were created and its de

cisions accepted and enforced by the world 's governments , it would provide a s

ignificant deterrent against the kinds of atrocities occurring in Rwanda . In ad

dition , the Boutros-Ghali should take the lead in calling on the United Nations

 and all other international organizations to bar any government that comes to p

ower through violence or commits gross human-rights abuses from receiving intern

ational assistance . Finally , he should devote greater effort to getting the in

ternational community to focus on the deteriorating situation in countries like 

Kenya and Zaire , which are already sliding down the same slippery slope that le

d to hundreds of thousands of deaths in Rwanda and Somalia . These measures will

 not produce quick results , nor will they end the fighting in Rwanda . But they

 would help to create the kind of political environment that will discourage fut

ure slaughters and make military intervention unnecessary . By contrast , anothe

r quixotic U.N. military operation would only set the stage for more disasters .

 WASHINGTON Virginia legislative leaders and representatives of federal retirees

 have reached a tentative $ 340 million settlement for the thousands of pensione

rs whom the state illegally taxed in the 1980s . The pact would pay 80 percent o

f claims , excluding interest , in installments over five years . It would cost 

$ 106 million more than an offer by Gov. George Allen that was resoundingly reje

cted this month by retirees and the General Assembly , but $ 60 million less tha

n a recent proposal by the plaintiffs ' attorney , Michael J. Kator . Sources sa

id the deal , which would end five years of litigation , was signed Wednesday ni

ght by retiree representatives and House Majority Leader C. Richard Cranwell . C

ranwell had continued negotiations while Allen 's proposal was failing . The pro

posed pact was first reported in the Washington Times . Democratic and Republica

n legislative leaders and Attorney General James S. Gilmore III ( R ) were brief

ed on the settlement Thursday in Richmond ; some said they wanted to study it , 

but no one opposed it strongly , sources said . The same day , Gilmore asked a f

ederal judge to postpone a hearing next Thursday on a retiree lawsuit seeking ba

ck taxes , citing progress toward a settlement . A news conference is planned Tu

esday to announce all the details of the agreement . Spokesmen for Gilmore and A

llen said both had concerns about the proposed settlement . The governor , for e

xample , wants to make sure it 's not paid for with `` phantom funds , '' press 

secretary Ken Stroupe said yesterday . But Gilmore 's spokesman , Mark Miner , s

aid , `` Significant progress has occurred. . . . We 're trying to get it cleare

d up as soon as possible . '' The deal hinges on approval by 80 percent of the s

everal hundred retirees who have sued for tax refunds , followed by General Asse

mbly ratification . According to the agreement , the 186,000 retirees who qualif

y would have six months to file claims . Some lawmakers are concerned that the p

roposal could run into stiff opposition from pensioners who have vowed to press 

for 100 percent refunds and interest . `` I think the legislature will go for it

 , '' said one lawmaker who was close to the negotiations . `` It 's the retiree

s-they 're the ones who could torpedo it . '' But Rose Musumeci , president of t

he Virginia chapter of the National Association of Retired Federal Employees , s

aid that if the settlement is equal to what has been reported , she believes it 

will fly . `` You 're not going to satisfy everybody , '' she said yesterday , b

ut `` I think 80 percent of the retirees would go along with it . '' The pact wo

uld set up a special fund paid with general fund appropriations $ 60 million the

 first year and $ 70 million in the following years . It would end a fight that 

began in 1989 when the U.S. .

 WASHINGTON The endgame between the United States and China , which climaxed Thu

rsday with President Clinton 's decision to extend China 's trading privileges ,

 began at Richard M. Nixon 's funeral in late April when top administration offi

cials organized a last-ditch effort to persuade China to improve its human right

s record . In a little room inside the Nixon Library , national security adviser

 Anthony Lake , National Economic Council head Robert E. Rubin and Assistant Sec

retary of State Winston Lord met with Chinese Ambassador Li Daoyu to discuss way

s China could make further progress in human rights . The U.S. officials offered

 to send a special envoy to Beijing to discuss the matter . It is far from clear

 whether anyone in the room considered China 's response would make much differe

nce . At that late date , no American official believed disrupting trade with Ch

ina would be wise , even though Beijing was unlikely to meet the conditions laid

 down by Clinton last year for renewal of its preferred trade status . U.S. inte

lligence analysts were reporting from the beginning that the Chinese never belie

ved Clinton 's threat to pull the plug on the lucrative U.S.-Chinese commerce . 

Nonetheless , the administration 's offer to send a special envoy reflected its 

need to make renewal of trade benefits more palatable politically , and China 's

 inclination to accept reflected perhaps its willingness to let Clinton save a l

ittle face . Indeed , the final days of Clinton 's threat to withdraw China 's m

ost-favored-nation ( MFN ) trading status were an exercise in preparing for the 

inevitable . Administration officials not only had to squeeze the Chinese for an

y last drops of concession a released prisoner here , a discussion of radio jamm

ing there . They also had to convince members of Congress and the public that Cl

inton 's decision was not another example of foreign policy waffling , this one 

involving the most populous country in the world . In that sense , the saga is a

s much a story of politics in Washington as it is of human rights in China . Fri

day , administration officials were describing as heroic Clinton 's decision to 

extend MFN for China despite insufficient progress on human rights and to separa

te in the future the issues of trade and human rights . Madeleine K. Albright , 

the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations , called it `` a very important step i

n showing American resolve . '' Secretary of State Warren Christopher said a pol

icy of `` comprehensive engagement '' with China had replaced the trade threat a

s the focus of U.S. policy , calling the new approach `` the best way to influen

ce China 's development . '' As in other administration foreign policy dramas , 

even those who agreed with the outcome despaired at the process . `` We have see

n one great power try to bluff another and seen the bluff called , '' said Dougl

as Paal , a China analyst and proponent of delinking trade matters from human ri

ghts concerns . `` It 's not a pretty sight , and it may be damaging . '' The Yo

rba Linda meeting had been designed to head off that kind of perception , but in

 the end , China gave less than administration officials had hoped . The offer t

o send a secret envoy resulted in the mission to Beijing in early May of Michael

 Armacost , a veteran diplomat . Armacost was publicly opposed to revocation of 

China 's MFN status , but after some persuading from Christopher , he embarked f

or China on May 8 . He won some concessions : pledges to release from jail at le

ast two prominent dissidents , including pro-democracy activists Chen Zeming and

 Wang Juntao . The Chinese also invited an American technical team to discuss th

e jamming of Voice of America , gave Armacost a list of some prisoners , permitt

ed the emigration of some citizens whose passports had been blocked for politica

l reasons and agreed to inspection of a prison labor camp suspected of producing

 goods for export to the United States . Armacost returned to the United States 

May 12 advising Clinton to pocket his limited winnings , extend MFN and move on 

. During roughly the same period , the administration recruited numerous visitor

s to China to press for more progress on human rights . Among them were Jimmy Ca

rter 's former national security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski , Nixon 's former c

hief foreign policy adviser Henry Kissinger and China expert Michael Oksenberg .

 All were briefed by security adviser Lake and/or Christopher and all were urged

 to ask for more progress . The idea for the Armacost mission had been discussed

 at an April 8 meeting of Clinton 's top foreign policy advisers . Vice Presiden

t Gore mentioned the idea to visiting Chinese State Counselor Song Jiang that da

y . High-profile diplomacy had produced mixed results . In late March , Christop

her had returned from Beijing with some pledges of cooperation , but these were 

overshadowed by arrests of Chinese dissidents and hard-line public statements by

 the Chinese . Christopher was constrained in responding in an equally tough fas

hion . To do so would risk a confrontation that would all but tie Clinton 's han

ds , disrupt trade and probably the whole relationship with China , State Depart

ment officials said . In any event , Armacost 's secret diplomacy was also disap

pointing . Christopher , whose assignment it was to report to Clinton on China '

s progress on human rights , declined to give it a clean bill of health . He mad

e a key judgment that China had complied with two compulsory criteria for mainta

ining its low tariff trade status : progress in emigration and inspections of pr

ison labor camps to search for goods bound for U.S. export . He recommended a ba

n on imports of Chinese munitions to indicate displeasure with the lack of progr

ess on issues such as repression in Tibet and continued detentions of democracy 

activists . At one point in the past week , Clinton suggested that no sanctions 

should be applied ; it would muddle the message that trade and human rights were

 being separated . Christopher and others argued that some sanction was necessar

y . Proposals for either an American or a joint Chinese-American human rights co

mmission also were shot down this week as unworkable . Carter , whom Clinton tri

ed to recruit to head the commission , persuaded the president to drop the idea 

. On May 19 , Rubin , Lake and other officials met with Carter at National Airpo

rt ; Carter them met with Ambassador Lito push the human rights message , a last

 stab at back-channel diplomacy . Clinton 's original threat was expressly desig

ned to unite the presidency and Congress behind a single policy . Congress , led

 by Democrats , had repeatedly tried to legislate economic sanctions against Chi

na , which President George Bush repeatedly vetoed . Clinton roundly criticized 

Bush and said he would be tougher . The political consensus was sacrificed with 

Clinton 's retreat . Senate Majority Leader George J. Mitchell , D-Maine , and R

ep. Nancy Pelosi , D-Calif. , criticized Clinton 's decision and threatened to l

egislate sanctions on Chinese imports . If successful , they would put Clinton i

n the position of having to veto the measure , just as Bush did . Administration

 officials are counting on Democrats not to embarrass Clinton over the issue . O

ne Democratic staff member in the House , musing on the inability of Clinton to 

win major concessions from the Chinese , said wryly , `` It turned out that MFN 

was useful as a tool only to bludgeon George Bush . ''

 Five key U.S. maritime unions formally agreed Friday to support lifting a feder

al ban on the export of Alaskan crude oil , in a deal worked out with British Pe

troleum Co. . Breaking its silence at the same time , BP confirmed that it has a

greed to preserve union jobs by using U.S.-flag tankers to ship any BP oil `` th

at moves off the Alaskan North Slope , '' said Rob Rehg , a spokesman for the Lo

ndon-based oil company . The agreement is contingent on Congress adding the lift

ing of the ban to a pending bill that would extend the Export Administration Act

 . Though opposition remains among members of Congress , proponents were optimis

tic on Friday . `` It doesn't make it a done deal , but it certainly makes it a 

viable deal , '' said one congressional source . `` If the maritime unions reall

y get behind this , they can sway a lot of Congress members. .. . And then if yo

u get a good ( U.S. Department of Energy ) study that says it 's not going to af

fect national energy concerns , then there 's no legitimate argunment for the ba

n . '' A still-unreleased Energy Department report on the costs and benefits of 

lifting the ban estimates that as many as 494 maritime-industry jobs could be lo

st in 1994- '95 if the ban were ended without a provision requiring the crude to

 be transported on U.S.-flag ships . Otherwise , the study supports proponents '

 estimates that thousands of new oilfield jobs and a substantial increase in inv

estment in California and Alaskan production would result from lifting the ban .

 ( Optional add end ) Though many high-ranking members of the Clinton administra

tion favor lifting the ban , the White House is not likely to take a formal stan

d on the issue until after the release of the DOE report , expected June 7 . In 

a statement made available to the Los Angeles Times Friday , executives of the S

eafarers International Union ; National Maritime Union ; American Maritime Offic

ers ; International Organization of Masters , Mates & Pilots ; and Marine Engine

ers Beneficial Association ended two decades of insistence on preserving the ban

 , declared that lifting it will create jobs and ensure the existence of a U.S. 

tanker fleet `` vessels that are militarily useful in times of conflict . '' Cal

ifornia 's independent oil producers and other proponents of lifting the ban hav

e argued that it forces too much crude into the California market , depressing t

he regional price .

 WASHINGTON White House anger over an aide 's golf outing by helicopter seemed t

o cool rapidly Friday , as top aides agreed to help the fired administrative chi

ef reimburse the government for the cost of his ride . As a `` gesture of friend

ship , '' 13 top White House officials virtually the entire senior rank committe

d to help the former chief of administration pick up a tab , said Mark Gearan , 

the director of communications . By one rough estimate that bill could run to ab

out $ 20,000 . The agreement came as White House efforts to defuse a public rela

tions debacle were set back by their admission that a second Marine helicopter a

lso had gone on the outing that took David Watkins and two others to an afternoo

n of golf Tuesday at the Holly Hill Country Club in Frederick , Md. . After deny

ing earlier that any other helicopters were part of the trip , Gearan conceded t

hat there was a second helicopter . While the second aircraft 's purpose was to 

conduct a `` training mission , '' he said it would `` probably not '' have been

 along but for Watkins ' plans to spend the afternoon at the course . The disclo

sure of the trip Thursday prompted President Clinton to seek Watkins ' resignati

on . Clinton declared that he was `` very angry '' at news about his long-time A

rkansas friend and business associate and promised that private money would be u

sed to reimburse the government for the trip . But announcement of plans for the

 White House contributions appeared to add a dose of moral ambiguity to the epis

ode , forcing officials to deny that the top aides were not taking the infractio

n seriously . ( Begin optional trim ) The trip reawakened voter outrage on radio

 and television talk shows across the country . But at the White House , anger w

as barely evident in a series of letters , released late in the day , from Clint

on , Watkins and Thomas F. `` Mack '' McLarty , the White House chief of staff .

 Clinton made only the most passing reference to the reason for Watkins ' depart

ure , saying : `` I write to accept your resignation and to say that I understan

d your reasons for submitting it . '' He praised Watkins ' `` great vigor and ef

fectiveness '' and thanked him for improvement in the White House telephone and 

computer systems . `` Hillary and I will never forget the loyal friendship you a

nd Ileene ( Watkins ' wife ) have given to us over the years . '' ( End optional

 trim ) For his part , the 52-year-old Watkins insisted that `` there simply was

 no effort on my part to use the White House or military equipment for personal 

or recreational purposes . My sole purpose was determining how you could utilize

 Camp David more frequently and enjoy the same opportunity for relaxation in Mar

yland that you sometimes get in Washington . '' The aides who have agreed to con

tribute are McLarty , presidential advisers David Gergen and George Stephanopoul

os , Gearan , deputy chiefs of staff Phillip Lader and Harold M. Ickes , economi

c adviser Robert E. Rubin , counsel Lloyd N . Cutler , national service director

 Eli Segal , congressional relations director Pat Griffin , cabinet secretary Ch

ristine Varney , public liaison chief Alexis Herman and domestic policy director

 Carol Rasco . Gearan said that it was unclear whether the Clintons would contri

bute . Officials are awaiting word from the Pentagon on the size of the total bi

ll for the use of the helicopters , which cost $ 2,380 an hour to operate . Gear

an said it was undecided how the cost would be shared but said it is certain tha

t Watkins and Alphonso Maldon , the White House military-office head who joined 

Watkins for the outing , will `` be paying something . '' A third golfer , Navy 

Cmdr. Richard Cellon , who directs operations at Camp David , was judged to have

 no responsibility for the trip and will not pay anything . The positions of Wat

kins and Maldon give them authority over Cellon . ( Begin optional trim ) Gearan

 said that the Marine helicopter had taken Watkins and Maldon from Bolling Air F

orce Base near Washington to Camp David , where Watkins took part in a meeting t

hat lasted about 30 minutes and conducted a `` site inspection '' of new constru

ction . Then the helicopter dropped the three at Holly Hill and headed back to t

he air base . Two other golfers at the course said that they saw the second airc

raft join Watkins ' aircraft after the golfers had been picked up , though Geara

n indicated that the two helicopters did not fly together on the return trip . (

 End optional trim ) Gearan was asked why reporters earlier had been told that t

he trip was devoted to scout out a potential golfing site for the president . ``

 That was the best information received at the time from David and Al Maldon , '

' he said . ( Optional add end ) Although Clinton showed a flash of anger during

 a press conference Thursday afternoon , one aide said that he had not expressse

d anger to Watkins . Clinton had talked to Watkins on the telephone before the p

ress conference and met with him for about 15 minutes afterwards . Former Republ

ican aides noted pointedly that in the George Bush and Ronald Reagan administrat

ions only presidents used the helicopters . This was both because of the cost of

 operation and because the copters were viewed as part of the ceremonial trappin

gs that should be reserved for the chief executive .

 In a memorandum to the U.S. Justice Department , the rock band Pearl Jam has co

mplained that Los Angeles-based Ticketmaster successfully pressured promoters to

 boycott the band 's low-cost concert tour this summer . Lawyers for the Seattle

-based band the biggest selling rock group in the country made the complaint on