FOOT IN MOUTH

The commander of the First Brigade of the First Armored Division is in trouble for remarks he made about the warring factions in Bosnia. Army Col. Gregory Fontenot, commander of U.S. Army troops patrolling the still contested Posavina Corridor in northern Bosnia, was quoted in Wednesday's Wall Street Journal as saying, "They don't think I trust them, and they're right. These are people who kill women and children and attack their neighbors. They're offended by me? Hell, I'm offended that I had to come here because of all their fighting." Though the Pentagon remained tightlipped about Fontenot's comments, General William Nash, commander of American forces in Bosnia, said on Thursday that he was "disappointed" by what he had read, and was "looking into it." TIME's senior Pentagon correspondent Mark Thompson believes the incident raises serious questions about a commander's ability to motivate his troops. "He apparently made the remarks while addressing his soldiers," says Thompson. "Sure, he was skating along the edges of propriety, but these are soldiers being sent halfway around the world on a mission that doesn't have much public support. A commander trying to fire up guys living in the mud and the snow can't be held to the same standard as one addressing a black-tie dinner."