Washington suffered a double blow in its plans for Iraq yesterday as France and Germany balked at the Bush administration’s proposals for an international force while British Prime Minister Tony Blair gave a cautious response to a call for 5,000 extra British troops.

The draft resolution sponsored by the United States attempts to create a United Nations mandate for an international force while keeping the troops under US command.

Washington is urgently seeking ways to reduce the burden on its 140,000 troops in Iraq, because of increasing casualties and the cost of occupation.

But skepticism is running high in the corridors of the UN, where diplomats have not forgotten the diplomatic bloodletting of last winter that resulted in the US and Britain invading and occupying Iraq without UN authorization.

The French and others are determined to make it clear the UN is in no way legitimizing the US decision to go to war against Iraq. France holds veto power over the resolution.

Many states also want the UN role in the political process to be put on a much firmer basis. The US is anxious to get that approval before the General Assembly meets later this month.