Informed Soures

Foot-in-Mouth Commandant

Washington -- Marine Corps Commandant General CARL MUNDY JR. caused a firestorm by trying to bar married Marine recruits; now he's feeling the heat for saying on 60 Minutes that minority groups don't swim, shoot or read compasses as well as whites. Mundy has apologized and asked to meet with the Congressional Black Caucus. Nevertheless, the Navy Secretary has removed Mundy from a study he was heading on -- ironically -- the status of minorities in the Corps. The White House is set to oust him if he makes one more mistake.

Aristide, the Lesser of Two Evils

Washington -- Although they wonUt say so publicly, some Clinton Administration officials are convinced -- along with Jesse Helms -- that exiled Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide did in fact order the 1991 murder of Roger Lafontant, a thuggish Duvalier militia leader. One senior policymaker says the murder allegation was mentioned in the State Department human-rights report on Haiti "because we believe it to be true." However, even these officials support the reinstatement of Aristide as Haiti's President, believing the continued rule of the Haitian military is a far more terrible prospect.

A Strange Message from Cocaine Kingpins

El Paso -- The motivations of drug dealers are often hard to interpret. Lately, U.S. Customs agents on the border between Texas and Mexico have seized several cocaine shipments with the name Clinton stenciled on the wrappings. Cocaine cartels usually mark their product with initials, brands or color coding. "We have no idea why they might be using the President's name," says agent Michael Lappe. "It's something we'd like to find out."