FAST CASH FOR A BOSNIA STRIKE FORCE

Over Republican protests, President Clinton plans to inject $60 million from the Pentagon budget into a European rapid-reaction force to protect U.N. peacekeepers in Bosnia. House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, who oppose U.S. spending on the U.N. effort, immediately sent the White House a letter accusing Clinton of circumventing the will of Congress. (The GOP leaders also balked at Clinton's intention to pay an additional $35 million for ancillary costs.) White House spokesman Mike McCurry saidthe President used his executive authority because the move had little chance of congressional approval; without the support, he added, the U.N. may withdraw its peacekeepers from the region altogether. Unconvinced, Dole and Gingrich threatened to introduce legislation that would be "likely to lead to restriction and limitation of those authorities in future legislation."