<i> A look at noteworthy addresses in the Southland. </i>

On Global Changes “On the eve of a new century, of a new millennium, we see a world where, as never before, people are demanding--and making progress toward--peace, democracy and an economic system that works. In Europe, the republics of the former Soviet Union, the Middle East, South America, Asia and Africa, revolutionary change is taking place. Change that, for the most part, is rich in potential for better lives for peoples long oppressed.

“In a world teeming with change, two things are certain: first, the new world order will be neither orderly nor peaceful; second, much of humanity does not share--and has little hope of sharing--in progress toward a better life.

“Weapons of mass destruction pose a threat that transcends national borders--and it requires a global view on the part of American intelligence. Perhaps the most dangerous trend is the proliferation in nearly two dozen countries of weapons of mass destruction--nuclear, chemical and biological weapons and related delivery systems--two dozen nations forging arsenals of such destructive capacity as to defy all reason.”

On The Role of Intelligence “This is a bleak picture I present: proliferation of weapons of mass destruction; . . . narcotics trafficking increasingly controlled by international organized crime; regional disputes that threaten to involve us; savage civil wars that require intervention to save Americans or to provide humanitarian relief; an unstable Russia with 30,000 nuclear warheads, assailed by economic, social and ethnic crises, and more.

My job is not to comfort you or our leaders, but rather to collect facts about reality across the globe and then provide them to decision makers. The ability of American intelligence to gather those facts from every corner of the world minute by minute, and to integrate, understand and report them is unsurpassed in the world.

An increasingly complex international scene is demanding more, not less, intelligence. And we can provide more intelligence and we can do it with fewer people and less money--but we must be allowed to manage reductions flexibly and over time. Sharp cuts are false savings, for we then sacrifice capabilities that surely will need to be replaced in a not-distant future--and lost capabilities may result in lost lives, lost opportunities and significantly larger military expenditures.”

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