"We are going to protect our forces and take whatever measures are necessary," Secretary Cohen said today.

Secretary Cohen says the decision will be left to the individual services.

But now Secretary Cohen can see that he needs better advice than he has been getting.

The military officials, including Secretary Cohen, questioned the objective of a larger force beyond the evacuation.

"I do not expect the policy to be changed - certainly not during this administration," Secretary Cohen said last week.

Secretary Cohen's improbable defense is that the vast majority of discharges were voluntary.

Secretary Cohen's decision is likely to receive mixed reviews in Congress.

"I'll wait until we receive a report from the military and from Secretary Cohen," he said in an interview.

Secretary Cohen seemed to acknowledge as much during a news conference here last week.

Secretary Cohen indicated that refugees would be kept from returning until the security forces could insure their safety.