In the wake of the terrorist attacks in France, 40 world leaders accompanied French President Francois Hollande for a public unity rally in Paris last Sunday. Among these leaders were British Prime Minister David Cameron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
The event, which The Guardian labeled as “one of the most significant public occasions in the history of post-war France,” symbolized unity as such leaders like Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas linked arms.
In addition to this, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and Russian Foreign Affairs Minister Sergei Lavrov made a similar amicable gesture in the demonstration along the Place de la Concorde in a statement against the Islamist terror attacks that rocked the city last week.
Despite the significant appearances of several world leaders, there was a notable absence of any key figure from the United States. Instead of the President’s or even the Vice President’s show of support, there was the presence of the United States’ ambassador to France, Jane D. Hartley, who is fairly insignificant when it comes to key figureheads of one of the world’s most powerful countries.
It would be naïve to concur with the harsh critics of Obama’s lack of appearance such as CNN who broadcasted a headline reading, “Where was Obama?” or the New York Daily News whose cover read: “You let the world down.” The security obstacles involved in moving the leader of the free world around and the idea of sending him out to march along a parade route that the Secret Service is not familiar with would be impractical and unrealistic. Despite this, it would seem that there were viable options other than Hartley.
Firstly, Attorney General Eric Holder was in Paris having already attended an emergency conference of world leaders assembled subsequent to the terror attacks. It has not yet been disclosed as to why Holder decided to fly back to Washington instead of representing his country and linking arms with other heads of government from around the world, but it would seem it was to allocate time for his four appearances on American morning television talk shows. Another alternative to Obama would have been Vice President Joseph Biden who reportedly spent the weekend in his home state of Delaware with nothing on his public schedule. Not even the French-speaking Secretary of State John Kerry was available, as he was on his way to India on a vital international economic summit.
No one, as far as I know, is suggesting there was any kind of intentional diplomatic snub on Obama’s behalf and there is no question that the United States is deeply committed to battling terrorism. The White House should have done a better job of showing solidarity at a time when one of America’s oldest allies was in deepest grieving. This was the largest civilian mobilization in the history of post-war France and it was a huge moment.
Obama’s failure to attend the march in Paris may be explainable; however, his failure to find someone comparatively equal in status or rank to the other world dignitaries in attendance is not.
