Whatever the exact toll, there’s no denying the carnage in the killing fields of Iraq. Yet there has been little outrage, let alone official acknowledgment, in the US or among its allies. “We are communicating to the (Muslim) people of the Middle East and beyond that we don’t care for their lives,” said Professor Roberts. “We are sowing the seeds of terrorism that could dwarf 9/11.”

Not all the casualties were caused by US and other coalition forces. In Iraq, an increasing number of deaths were attributable to Sunni-Shiite sectarianism; to collateral damage from raging battles between various militias; and to criminal gangs taking advantage of the breakdown of law and order. But the mayhem was born of the collapse of the social order under the US-led occupation, prior to which Shiites and Sunnis had lived in peace for generations, dating back to the formation of Iraq in the 1920s. There is, therefore, no escaping the moral responsibility for what transpired in Iraq after the 2003 invasion.

As for the number of Iraqis injured, the estimate ranged from a confirmed figure of 125,0006 to between 1 million and 2 million.

More than 4 million Iraqis have been displaced — 1.2 million to Syria, 800,000 to Jordan and the rest internally, according to the UNHCR, the United Nations refugee agency, which called it one of the worst humanitarian disasters of modern times.

Even in the spots hit by terrorists — from London and Madrid to Amman, Istanbul, Riyadh and Jeddah, through Karachi to Bali and Jakarta — more Muslims have been killed and injured than non-Muslims.

The approximately 25 million Muslims living in Western nations have been targeted in other ways.

They have been victims of racial profiling and frequent identity mix-ups at airports and border crossings, where they have been harassed and sometimes detained.

Monitored by both the secret services and the media, Muslims must be careful about what they say in emails, phone

Muslims in the World7

There are 1.3 billion Muslims, who constitute one-fifth of the world’s population.

Islam is the fastest-growing religion in the world, including in Europe, the US and Canada.

Islam is the second-largest religion after Christianity, which has 1.9 billion adherents.

There are more Muslims than there are Catholics (1.1 billion).

Muslims constitute the religious majority in 54 countries.

There are as many Muslims as there are Chinese people.

There are as many Muslims in China (33 million) as there are Canadians in Canada.

conversations and in public. They must think twice about keeping a beard or wearing overtly Muslim clothing and be mindful of how they behave in public. They must keep proving that neither they nor their faith fits the caricature of Muslims and Islam drilled into the public consciousness.