Sections of American media have sharply attacked President Barack Obama for not attending or deputing a high-level representative to Sunday’s historic rally in Paris that was joined by more than 40 world leaders to send a strong message of unity days after the terrorist massacre at Charlie Hebdo, the satirical newspaper.
“You let the world down,” accused the New York Daily News, with its front page dominated by a picture of the gigantic march. Many took to the Twitter to hit out at the Obama administration, questioning why the US leadership was “missing in action when world leaders linked arms to lead an anti-terrorism march of more than a million people”.
“The absence of top American leaders was felt as countries from around the world sent their own premiers. In addition to French President Francois Hollande, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, British Prime Minister David Cameron, Israeli Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas all took part in the rally,” CNN noted.
There was no immediate formal word from the White House, but a senior administration official was quoted by CNN as saying that the US Government has been supporting the French on a “minute-by-minute basis”. The official also spoke of Obama’s several public statements on the subject, his call to President Hollande and a condolence stop to the French Embassy.
Although Attorney General Eric Holder was in Paris for security meetings, he was not seen in the march. Representation in that grand event had been left to US Ambassador Jane Hartley. “But her presence was not widely noted in a crowd of more than a million people that included 40 world leaders,” The New York Times noted.
Secretary of State John Kerry, who was away in Ahmedabad for the Vibrant Gujarat summit, described France as America’s “oldest ally”, saying he would be travelling there on Thursday to “reaffirm the connection between the United States and our oldest ally”.
Terming it a “serious mistake”, Republican Congressman Peter King said: “If the highest-ranking official is an ambassador, I would say that’s a serious mistake. We are looking for cooperation from around the world … we should have had someone there who is instantly recognisable (so people) see …and say, ‘That’s the United States of America’.”
Responding to the criticism about US absence at the Sunday march, Kerry was quoted as saying: “The United States has been deeply engaged with France from the moment this horrific event took place….And I really think, you know, this is sort of quibbling a little bit.”
“The President and our administration have been coordinating very, very closely with the French on F.B.I. matters, intel, law enforcement, across the board,” he said, adding: “For the United States, that relationship is a constant, and it is ongoing.”