The Israeli and French retaliatory air strikes last week may have destroyed the headquarters of the Shi'ite Muslim militia called Islamic Amal, but the attacks could not hope to wipe out the group's suicidal zeal. For the followers of Shi'ite extremists, especially supporters of Iran's Ayatullah Ruhollah Khomeini, dying in a jihad, or "holy war," means martyrdom and a guaranteed place in heaven. With the recent suicide bombings of the U.S., French and Israeli headquarters in Lebanon, radical Shi'ite groups have become a small but potentially destabilizing force in Lebanon. Says an Israeli...
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