21.  Castillo, who had pleaded guilty to another robbery-stabbing committed a month before the Party House crime, lacked the means for a strong defense.

22.  Clinton this week has offered a strong defense of his policy of engaging China.

23.  Charles A. Blixt, general counsel of R.J. Reynolds, said he believed that the company had presented a strong defense.

24.  Clinton, with his strong defense of affirmative action Wednesday, similarly aimed to shore up his standing with blacks and other liberals who control the Democratic nominating process.

25.  Democratic strategists fear that a Republican nominee could use a delay to attack Gore as unwilling to support a strong defense.

26.  Do we want a strong defense and a healthy treasury, and little else?

27.  Done carefully, consolidation may be the best way to preserve a strong defense industry.

28.  Even before that, the strong defense that had been such a big part of the Kings recent success was missing.

29.  Ever since Ronald Reagan, Republicans have thought that their philosophy of tax cutting, a strong defense and a scaled-back federal government would triumph.

30.  Harry Truman once said a strong national defense was far more important than a balanced budget.