President Clinton toured CIA headquarters Monday and told the agency's staffers that despite the end of the Cold War, the new world "remains dangerous" and "more difficult to fathom."

Clinton gave a pep talk to the intelligence agency's employees, saluting those who take great risks in carrying out their undercover work. He also commemorated those who lost their lives in the line of duty.The president, who received an enthusiastic reception, said he relies heavily on the intelligence reports he gets every morning pinpointing the threats and danger spots around the world.

"Like my predecessors, I look to you to warn me, and through me, our nation of the threats, to spotlight important trends in the world, to describe the dynamics that could affect our interests around the world," he said.

He said the intelligence reports "are particularly important now."

"The end of the Cold War increases our security in many ways . . . but even now this new world remains dangerous and in many ways more complex and more difficult to fathom," he said. "We need to understand more than we do about the challenges of ethnic conflict, militant nationalism, terrorism and the proliferation of all kinds of weapons."

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"Accurate, reliable intelligence is the key to understanding each of these challenges and without it is difficult to make good decisions in a crisis or in the long term - take it from one who knows," he declared.

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