WASHINGTON -- As pressures mount for a new strategy to end the Iraq saga once and for all, the Clinton administration may finally have to answer the central question left open by the Bush administration: What to do about Iraqi President Saddam Hussein?


To prevent the possibility of repetitive crises and revolving-door military deployments, military planners now face the complex issue of Iraq's cunning leader and his future.


"It's time to get rid of him. Even if his ability to attack Kuwait is eliminated, he's still a menace to the region,'' says Laurie Mylroie, author of two books on Iraq and a research fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute in Philadelphia.


Most available mechanisms for punishment, from economic sanctions and political isolation to military devastation, have been tried since 1990 -- with only marginal impact on Hussein's rule.


As a result, gulf allies, U.S. analysts and pivotal U.N. members are now debating options rejected four years ago for fear of a result even more ominous than Hussein's political survival: the fragmentation of Iraq.


High on the list of new possibilities is the creation of a zone in southern Iraq where Iraqi military forces would be excluded or their presence severely limited.


With most of northern Kurdistan already beyond Hussein's control, that would effectively leave Hussein in full charge only of the central third of his country.


During Secretary of State Warren Christopher's visit to the gulf Wednesday, Kuwait will press the case for an exclusion zone as the only means of both constraining Hussein militarily and promoting political conditions to foster challenges of his rule. If the southern zone were large enough and the military presence were sufficiently limited, dissident political activity could spring up and lead to a former of alternative local power, as has occurred in the north.


The growing consensus behind a southern exclusion zone, which the United States is now floating at the United Nations as a primary option, reflects the burden of Hussein's ongoing rule over the intervening period.


The idea of a zone is "almost a must'' now, former Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Paul Wolfowitz said this week.


"We should not talk about the notion that he can comply with UN resolutions and then get his power back,'' Wolfowitz said. "As long as people think he has a future, he may have one.''


But even if the idea of an exclusion zone becomes policy, many issues still have to be decided, including the size of the area, the terms of exclusion and the means of enforcement.


In terms of size, the largest area under consideration begins at the 32nd parallel and would include several Iraqi cities such as Basra and Najaf, as well as vital oil-producing areas. The smallest area would be the largely barren desert area just north of Kuwait's border, U.S. analysts said.


The toughest terms of exclusion could ban all troops and materiel, while the mildest ban would be of tanks and heavy equipment