Cohen Holds Back Cuba Report

What do you do when a bogeyman simply refuses to act scary? That’s Defense Secretary Cohen’s dilemma, after a Defense Department assessment found -- to the chagrin of anti-Castro legislators -- that Cuba presents no military threat to the U.S. Cohen held back the report, due for release yesterday, so that it could be made “more presentable,” as an aide put it.

“The Pentagon long ago concluded that Cuba is no military threat to the U.S.,” says TIME correspondent Doug Waller. “In fact the military privately favors normalizing relations with Havana -- they think our policy down there is pretty backward. But such conclusions inflame the passions of legislators who want to present Cuba in a more menacing light.” All of which leaves Cohen to do some creative editing in order to humor those who believe “Red Dawn” was a documentary.