WAR WATCH: CUTTING THROUGH THE RHETORIC : Perhaps Others Can Still Bring Peace

As the deadline nears, are the threats hurled between Washington and Baghdad all talk, or a real run - up to war? The Times asked some California congressmen to interpret the signs as the days count down to Jan. 15 . Wednesday’s gloomy news obviously increases the likelihood that we will resort to the use of force in the Persian Gulf.

If in fact we do, it will be a tragedy that could have been prevented, because war is not now and never was necessary to achieve our objectives there.

We succeeded months ago in protecting our vital interests in the gulf. We have defended Saudi Arabia and the rest of the Gulf States, deterred any further aggression by Iraq, ensured an adequate supply of oil at reasonable prices to the entire world and brought about the release of all foreigners who wished to leave Kuwait and Iraq.

Our last objective, Iraq’s withdrawal from Kuwait, would come about in the not-too-distant future if we continued to punish Baghdad severely by maintaining our effective international system of sanctions.

There is still time for the statesmanship necessary to save us from an unnecessary war that will have unpredictable--perhaps disastrous--consequences. President Bush and Saddam Hussein may not be able to negotiate successfully with each other, but perhaps others can.

We should encourage the United Nations, our European allies and the Arab members of our coalition to continue to talk to Hussein--to find a way out, to persuade him to comply with the U.N. resolutions and to avoid the unnecessary loss of American lives.