By Howard Cincotta
Washington File Special Correspondent

U.S. officials express confidence that agreement is near on a comprehensive new U.N. Security Council resolution on Iraq that will commit the international community to supporting Iraq's efforts to achieve security and freedom.

Secretary of State Colin Powell, appearing on CBS Face the Nation and CNN Late Edition, stressed that the draft resolution provides for full Iraqi sovereignty. It will also reference an exchange of letters with the Iraqi government, he said, setting forth the arrangements under which U.S. and other coalition forces will operate in Iraq after June 30.

"I hope this resolution will allow us to move forward as an international community to help the Iraqi people achieve the democracy that they so richly deserve," Powell said on Face the Nation.

National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, appearing on Fox News Sunday, said that arrangements that keep the military forces under their own national commands -- whether U.S., Iraqi, or other coalition members -- are exactly how the United States military operates in partnership with other nations around the world.

For the terrorists and Saddam loyalists fighting against the new, free Iraq, Rice said, "The strongest message that could be sent to them is a unified message of the international community that this government is supported, the multinational force is supported, and Iraq's future is well on its way. That's why it's important to have the Security Council resolution."

Asked whether a new resolution would mean more coalition troops, both Powell and Rice said that focus, instead, would be on building up and training Iraq's own military and security forces.

"What the Iraqis have emphasized is that there are a number of security tasks that they can do on their own if they can get the support of the international community for training," Rice said.

On Face the Nation, Powell said, "Ultimately, security must be in the hands of the Iraqi people if they are going to be a sovereign nation, and that's a principal goal that we have, the international community has."

Although neither France nor Germany will send troops to Iraq, Powell noted on CNN that U.S. forces are working alongside both nations in Afghanistan and the Balkans, as well as with French forces in Haiti.

The U.N resolution is significant, Powell said on CNN, because it will endorse the presence of coalition military forces at the request of a sovereign Iraqi government; recognize the arrangements for how the coalition military will work with the new government; and call for the international community to assist Iraq in any way possible --- whether additional troops, military training, or reconstruction aid.

Regarding the Middle East, Powell said on CNN that President Bush wants the Palestinian people to have a state of their own on "a coherent, contiguous land" in the West Bank that, with Gaza, would constitute the state of Palestine.

President Bush will support Israeli Prime Minister Sharon's evacuation plan for Gaza, Powell said, "and then get back into the roadmap and help the Palestinian people put an end to terrorism ... help them reform their political system and their security system so that Israel can feel comfortable leaving Gaza and turning it over to Palestinian control."

In their appearances, both Powell and Rice paid tribute to the legacy of former President Ronald Reagan, who died June 5 at age 93.

Powell, who served as President Reagan's National Security Advisor, said on Face the Nation, "When people looked at Reagan, they saw America. And Reagan knew that. He knew that he, in his person and the way he projected that optimism, was projecting an image not just of Ronald Reagan but an image of all Americans and of America to the rest of the world."