South Africa, China, Indonesia and Vietnam are among the delegations that oppose such efforts.
"I sense a mood and will among the delegations to be flexible," he added.
There were important differences among the delegations on what kind of security force should be established, diplomats said.
There are concerns among council delegations that friends of Iraq, led by Russia, intend to make this into what American politicians would recognize as a filibuster.
Among the delegations in Washington from the six states of the Gulf Co-operation Council, GCC – they are Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the UAE and Oman – only two, Qatar and Kuwait, ended up sending their leaders.
Apparently to prevent critical comments from leaking to the press, the internal bulletins circulated among the delegations to keep them informed of each others' discussions were banned from mentioning what delegates said about official appointments.
In particular, it will include the muscling and maneuvering of the various Democratic Party leaders in each borough, who will seek to put together coalitions among their delegations through horse-trading support for politicians seeking other offices.
The tone of the two leaders' speeches will be set in part by Barack Obama's address on Wednesday, which was strongly praised by Israel but has been met with widespread criticism among UN delegations, many of whom regard it as a piece of electioneering as the US president seeks to defuse Republican criticism that he has not backed Israel strongly enough.
While there are some women and ethnic Pashtuns among the delegations, giving the appearance of broad representation, key Pashtuns remain either allied with the Taliban or fighting it in the south, and the naming of women to serve as delegates seems a grudging nod to Western preferences.
While Republicans maintain dominance among House delegations, it's generally acknowledged that Democrats have a good chance of retaking the Senate since many incumbent Republicans are vulnerable this year.
