White House admits Paris rally mistake after criticism from US media

#CharlieHebdo #ParisRally #BarackObama #JohnKerry #White House What prompted the US to stay away from the Paris rally is a mystery but, White House has, reportedly, admitted that it was a grave mistake of not sending "someone with a higher profile" to Sunday's Paris unity rally. The US ambassador to France was the highest ranking US official attending.
The admission has come after US media criticized President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry for not attending the rally which followed three terror attacks in Paris – the rally was attended by an estimated 1.6 million people and some 40 world leaders.
White House has explained that President Obama wished he could have attended, however, the extent of security preparation involved for a presidential visit required in excess of the 36-hour advance notice the White House received. Seventeen people lost their lives in attacks in Paris last week at the office of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.
US Secretary of State John Kerry has indicated to reporters in India that he would visit France to reaffirm US solidarity with the country, which he called America's oldest ally. Incidentally, he is fluent in French and had visited the country 17 times since becoming secretary of state.
He would probably arrive in Paris later this week after his trips to India and Pakistan. In the meantime, the White House has announced there would be an international summit in Washington in February on countering violent extremism.

Obama did not attend historic Paris rally - American attitude towards Paris terror attack raises questions

#ParisRally #CharlieHebdo The attitude of the USA towards the Paris terror attack has raised many questions. There was no sign of Barack Obama, John Kerry or Joe Biden in the historic Paris rally to express solidarity with more than 40 world leaders from Europe, Africa, the Middle East and even Russia who had gathered in Paris to condemn the attack on Charlie Hebdo.
'France is our oldest ally,' Obama had said during a speech Friday in Tennessee. 'I want the people of France to know that the United States stands with you today, stands with you tomorrow.' However, he gave Paris a miss and had, reportedly, spent part of his Sunday afternoon watching a National Football League game on television.
It seems US Attorney General Eric Holder was in Paris on the day for a security summit, but he did not appear alongside world leaders when they joined an anti-terrorism march in the afternoon - he went to appear on a number of US morning shows.
Why Obama was not in Paris is a mystery but, the fact remains that he was not there even as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas put aside their differences and linked arms.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and Russian Foreign Affairs Minister Sergei Lavrov made the same unifying gesture in the march down the Place de la Concorde in defiance of the Islamist terror attacks that rocked the city last week. Heads of state from every major European power, including British Prime Minister David Cameron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, joined French President Francois Hollande.