Washington ? The Bush administration is waiting for a clear pattern of violations by Iraq before pursuing a showdown in the United Nations, even as allied warplanes come under repeated attack.

Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld called Iraq’s no-fly-zone firing unacceptable. But he also said Monday, “It’s up to the president and the U.N. Security Council on their view of Iraq’s behavior over a period of time, and those discussions have just begun.”

White House deputy spokesman Scott McClellan condemned the Iraqi attacks – at least four in the past few days – as “a violation that would constitute a material breach” of the resolution adopted unanimously by the council Nov. 8 to force Iraq to disarm.

But McClellan, like Rumsfeld, indicated the administration was not taking its complaint to the council, which threatened Iraq with consequences in the event of breaches of U.N. resolutions.

“We have that option,” the spokesman said, indicating that a decision had not been made by President Bush. The president repeatedly has threatened President Saddam Hussein with war if he reneges on his assurance that he will comply with U.N. orders to get rid of weapons of mass destruction.

By holding off, the administration defers a potential confrontation with U.S. allies. They were reluctant in the first place to threaten Iraq with force if it did not admit international inspectors and disarm, and they are still disinclined to attack Baghdad.

It also gives the United States and Britain new opportunities to respond to attacks on patrolling aircraft by bombing Iraqi installations.

The United Nations has kept an arm’s length from the overflights, which began over northern Iraq after the 1991 Persian Gulf War to protect Kurds and later over southern Iraq to shield the Shiites there.

The U.N. position is that the United States and Britain, not the world organization, made the decision to ban Iraqi warplanes from the areas and to enforce it by patrolling the no-fly zones.