egime erupted in a violent rebellion in 1978. The Revolutionary Guards, a militia loyal to Khomeini, attacked government forces with grenades, machineguns, and homemade bombs.
             Unable to put down the rebellion, the shah fled Iran in 1979. The Ayatollah Khomeini soon made a triumphant return, and quickly carried out his promise to replace the shah with an Islamic government. Religious law, as interpreted by Khomeini, became the law of the land. The Revolutionary Guards became Khomeini's police force, using violence to enforce the new Islamic code. The revolutionary government executed thousands of Iranians who had supported the shah.
             Iran's revolution stunned leaders throughout the Middle East. The Shiite Muslims in Lebanon also took notice of this miraculous change. But within Lebanon, the Shiites made up only one of many religious and ethnic groups that were fighting for political power. Christians controlled northern Lebanon; Muslims, the south of Lebanon. The army of Syria, a neighboring country, occupied the Bekaa Valley in central Lebanon. Since 1975, Christians, Muslims, and Syrians had been fighting in much of Lebanon.
             The civil war in Lebanon was a disaster for the Shiites. Thousands were killed, and many more lost their homes. The Shiites in southern Lebanon had also endured deadly bombing raids from Israel, which lay across the border to the south. The Shiite militia, known as Amal, was losing ground in the war. Many Shiites who felt betrayed by Amal's leaders looked to Khomeini's Islamic revolution to help their cause.
             The situation in Lebanon had grown even more chaotic with the arrival of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). In the 1970's, many PLO fighters moved into southern Lebanon. Refugee camps for Palestinian civilians were taken over by the PLO. From these camps, PLO guerillas staged raids on northern Israel. Israel retaliated with bombardments that destroyed ...