-- shamefully taunted at his hanging by Shi'ite executioners.Iraq itself, however, although now (2007) with a democratically elected government, in which all groups managed to participate, nevertheless is a place of constant violence. The Sunni minority, with Baathist diehards, began an "uprising" rather than live under governments dominated by the Shi'ite majority. Although this is portrayed, often by Western sympathizers, as a national struggle against American occupation, most of the casualties have been civilian victims of suicide bombers and car bombs. There have also been attacks against Islamic sites, like the Golden Mosque in Samara, which was associated with Shi'ism. These tactics in part are the inspiration of al-Qa'ida and effected by an influx of foreign Jihadists. Substantial parts of the Sunni community are now tiring of this, especially since the Shi'ites have answered in kind, with help from the Shi'ite motherland, Iran. Since the Shi'ites and Iran have little more sympathy for America than they do for the Sunnis, American (and British) forces tend to get caught in the middle. Nevertheless, it is the interest of the West, the International Community, and Iraq that neither Sunnis nor Shi'ites have an outright victory, and the only way to prevent that and mediate a settlement is for a third party (the Americans) to maintain the balance. Meanwhile, the Kurds, although provoking Turkey by supporting Kurdish terrorists there, have been relatively safe and prosperous in their part of Iraq -- now behind a dike to inhibit terrorist infiltration. They have even paid for commercials on American television with thanks for American efforts. With many in American politics cynically and opportunistically hoping to benefit from a defeat in Iraq, however, as they benefited from defeat in Vietnam (along with Isolationists and simple anti-American Leftists), those efforts may not continue much longer. Meanwhile, all the major communities seem to have joined in an ethnic purge of Iraqi Christians, the Syrian Orthodox and Catholics, Chaldeans and Assyrians. As with the persecution of Christians anywhere, this draws little attention from the Western Press (whose template is that Christians are as bad as Muslim Jihadists), and the numbers of Iraqi Christians are too small to figure in most geopolitical calculations.Note on the modern AssyriansThe whole area around the Bourj in Beirut was destroyed in the Lebanese civil war of the 70's and 80's. Plenty of new martyrs were created, though it is not clear what the cause was supposed to be when the Lebanese largely destroyed their own country and slaughtered each other, opening the door to a Syrian occupation of much of the country, something that no Lebanese of any faction really wanted. After some years of relative peace, chaos has returned as Syria evidently continues to promote its interests (starting with key assassinations) and both radicalized Shi'ites and Sunni Jihadists display little desire to live peaceful, ordinary lives.Islamic IndexModern Morocco and Tunisia1640-presentThe 'Alawid Sharifs, Sult.ans, & Kings of MoroccoMuh.ammad ash-Sharif1631-1659Muh.ammad I1635-1664ar-Rashid1666-1672Isma'ilSult.an, 1672-1727Ah.mad1727-1728, 1728-1729'Abd al-Malik1728'Abd Allah1729-1734, 1736, 1740-1741, 1741-1742, 1743-1747, 1748-1757'Ali1734-1736Muh.ammad II1736-1738al-Mustad.i'1738-1740, 1742-1743, 1747-1748, d.1760Zayn al-'Abidin1741Muh.ammad III1757-1790Yazid1790-1792Hisham1792-1798, d.1799Sulayman1798-1822'Abd ar-Rahman1822-1859Muh.ammad IV1859-1873al-H.asan I1873-1894'Abd al-'Aziz1894-1908, d.1943'Abd al-H.afiz.1908-1912, d.1937French Protectorate, 1912-1956Yusuf1912-1927Muh.ammad V1927-1953,