And Now I Take The Side of Muslims

Pictured Above: Deportation and Decimation of the Crimean Tatars.

In various writings, I document the historic and recent abuse of religious minorities in Muslim nations. But, in the name of balance, it's important to explore some serious and unambiguous episodes of abuses of Muslim populations. In such instances, I do take their side against western nations:

Starting in the 1800's, the Russian Empire began it's push into the Caucasus, displacing its indigenous Muslim populations. In the 1860's, over 1,000,000 Circassians were expelled, with 400,000 perishing from massacres, cold and hunger. Less dramatic, but also significant was the gradual exodus of nearly 500,000 Crimean Tatars. In the late 1870's the situation stabilized and the exodus of Muslims from the Russian Empire slowed, with some even returning. But, the onset of Communism proved to be disastrous. During the man made family of the early 1920's, 100,000 Crimean Tatars perished, with percentage wise may have been the highest rate of starvation among any group in the Soviet Union. This was only the beginning of the horrors that awaited them; in 1944 the entire population of Crimean Tatars was deported to Central Asia, in which 45% perished. And in the first few years of deportation and exile from their homeland, up to 50% of the Chechens perished. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Russia denied independence to the Chechens, sparking the first and second Chechen Wars. While it is certain that the Chechen leadership was corrupt and unstable, Russia has no demographic, historic or strategic claim to their land. And their very presence is encouraging the very Islamic radicalism and terrorism that they fear so much.