Last wednesday, a wave of suicide bombings in Kurdish areas in Northwestern Iraq killed between 200 and 500 people, the largest such attack since the US invasion of the country four years ago. The attacks were aimed at Yezidi Kurds, members of an endangered pre-Islamic gnostic sect. The attacks are partly in retaliation against the group for supporting the American cause, and in large part over the stoning death of a Yezidi teen who attempted to convert to Islam.

Making matters worse, the media insists in representing the Yezidis as a Satanic sect, referring to them as "Devil worshippers" and other nonsense that plays up a sensationalistic aspect of Yezidi beliefs but does little to aid an already heavily persecuted group.