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A Car Bomb In Baghdad Killed More People Than The Paris Attacks

by John Haltiwanger
REUTERS

Update 12:09 pm EST, July 4, 2016:

This article originally cited the death toll as 126. It's now risen to at least 200, which is more than the number of people killed in the Paris attacks.

The title of this article was previously, "A Car Bomb In Baghdad Killed Nearly As Many People As The Paris Attacks," and we've amended it to accurately reflect the updated death toll.

While the world is still reeling from terror attacks in Orlando, Istanbul and Dhaka, another attack occurred in a busy shopping district in Baghdad, Iraq killing at least 126 people, including 25 children. At least 147 more were injured.

ISIS claimed responsibility.

The death toll from the attack in Baghdad is roughly the same as the number of people who died in the Paris attacks (130) on November 13, 2015, but will Western media outlets, governments and people care?

It's hard not to ask this question when this is the third terror attack in a majority Muslim country within a week -- Turkey, Bangladesh and now Iraq -- yet there has been significantly less coverage and discussion in the West compared to the attacks in Paris, San Bernardino, Brussels and Orlando.

The attack in Baghdad on Saturday stands as yet another reminder Muslims are the primary victims of jihadism. Meanwhile, US politicians continue to demonize Islam.

In order to defeat terrorism, we need to work toward a more comprehensive understanding of its full scale and scope. When there's a stark disparity in terms of our outrage in the wake of terror attacks, based on where they occur, we fail to do this.