Yazidi Bombings In Iraq

Over 250 people have died, with 350 injured, in the latest co-ordinated bombings in Iraq.

The bombings happened in the villages of Qataniya and Adnaniya, and involved a fuel tanker and three cars. The victims are members of the ancient Yazidi community, who are mainly Kurds, spread out in villages around Lalish and across northern Iraq. Internationally, the Yazidi community is believed to number between 100,000 and 400,000, often living in uneasy co-existence with their Muslim neighbours.

In April, a 17-year-old Yazidi girl who had married a Muslim and converted to Islam was stoned to death by her own community, a brutal murder that was caught by a witness on a mobile phone camera. In retaliation, Muslim gunmen murdered 23 Yazidi factory workers, and 800 Yazidi students fled from Mosul university fearing of reprisals.

It's the deadliest single attack during the Occupation, but it's already the 2nd story on the BBC News website.

250 dead, and 350 injured, in a country of 27 1/2 million people ... that's the same as a suicide bombing in the US that would kill 2730 people and wound 3500 more.

Are we going to be drenched in endless analysis about the reasons behind 14/8, about the detailed planning of the individual bombers, are we to learn in detail about the Kurdish autonomous region's upcoming referendum, about the Yazidi heritage? Are we even going to get a Greengrass film, with real-life locals playing parts in a dramatic reconstruction?

Of course we aren't. Iraqis are less important than Americans. We won't have any coverage of the bombings next week. None at all.