Periscope.

Byline: Michael Hastings and Scott Johnson (Tracy McNicoll Jonathan Mummolo Allan Madrid Ramin Setoodeh)

Iraq: Is Moqtada Losing His Grip?

American and Iraqi forces face a major problem in Baghdad: how to deal with the Mahdi Army, which has been linked to death squads responsible for a string of assassinations and kidnappings. Worse, the Mahdi Army's leader, Moqtada al-Sadr, seems to be losing his grip on the thousands of armed men who once followed his every word. "There are forces that are controlled by Moqtada, but there are commanders that are not controlled by him; there are death squads that are not controlled by him," U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad told NEWSWEEK.

Under the leadership of Sadr, the Mahdi Army was considered a containable force, susceptible to political bargaining. But as Sadr has leaned toward moderation--his party now has 30 seats in the National Assembly--men fighting under his militia's banner have become more aggressive. In interviews with NEWSWEEK, Mahdi Army members, Iraqi politicians and Western officials describe an organization in which local commanders are increasingly independent from Sadr, splintering into cells of fighters committed to civil war. There are at least four offshoot Mahdi leaders in Sadr City alone; some groups are taking orders from Iran. There's similar fragmentation in the largely Shiite cities of Najaf and Basra. According to a U.S. military intel official in Najaf, Coalition forces have been attacked by individuals who get their inspiration from the Mahdi Army but are not official members--men with "an AK-47, an RPG and a Sadr poster," says the official, requesting anonymity because of the issue's sensitivity. The situation is so volatile that, according to the U.S. officials, Sadr now fears for his own safety and position.

The United States is targeting militia-run death squads in the new Baghdad security operation. Meanwhile, a suicide bombing in Najaf last week brought renewed calls among some Shiite leaders for the Mahdi Army and other militias to take over more security operations. But it's difficult for the United States to turn over control to an increasingly uncontrollable force.

France: Jacques Du Jour

The presumptive future president of France looks buff (we're being kind here) in a bathing suit. Until last week, leading contenders Nicolas Sarkozy and Segolene Royal had spent the Lebanese war at the beach, fawned over by paparazzi. Not the real president, Jacques Chirac, however. A month ago, his 39-year political career seemed to have been reduced to a bad joke. Race riots, mass job protests, murky corruption scandals--instead of a grand exit, Chirac looked to be shuffling off into the sunset.