Czech Republic is not Chechnya

Americans have never been known for awareness world affairs or geography. That extends to the media as well. In the frenzy that followed the Boston Marathon bombings, several American social media outlet users erroneously reported the ethnicity of the bombing suspects as Czech, when it is actually Chechen. The mistake happened enough that Petr Gandalovic, the Czech Ambassador to the United States, felt a need to speak out.

Few Chechens reside in the US

The Boston Marathon bombings earlier this week have brought a spotlight to the Chechnyan community. The two suspects in the bombings, brothers Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, were naturalized U.S. citizens originally from Chechnya. A report shows how there are few Chechnyan immigrants to the United States, as most American cities refuse applicants from this region. One estimate has the number of Chechens in the US to be no more than 250 persons. Additionally, the majority of those immigrants granted asylum are women. Very few men are granted asylum due to American anti-terrorism policies.

Meanwhile the Chechan president, Ramzan Kadyrov, has blamed the acts of terror on the Tsarnaev brothers American upbringing. Compare that reaction with the humility of their uncle Ruslan Tsarni of Maryland, who expressed shame for his nephews' actions.