(Analysts discount the military significance of the non-Communist guerrillas.)

The changes in the Cambodia program, which allots about $20 million in aid annually to non-Communist guerrillas, are the most radical.

LEAD: About 5,000 non-Communist guerrillas mounted major attacks today to reinforce gains in northwestern Cambodia but met strong resistance from Government troops, a guerrilla official said.

A White House official said the non-Communist guerrillas could receive the first batch of American arms by the time Vietnamese troops complete their withdrawal from Cambodia.

Washington openly provides the non-Communist Cambodian guerrillas with food, medicine, clothing and money.

Critics of Administration policy, including some in Congress, say the non-Communist guerrillas have used American aid funds to buy arms in Thailand or from Singapore.

They also assert that American aid to the non-Communist guerrillas indirectly benefits their coalition partner, the Khmer Rouge.

But its policy of supporting non-Communist guerrillas fighting side by side with Khmer Rouge forces came shamefully close.

The Bush Administration has repeatedly said it wants the option of providing military aid to the non-Communist guerrillas.

The United States gives more than $15 million in covert and overt aid each year to the non-Communist guerrillas.