White House, Paris march, Charlie Hebdo attack

In a rare error admission the White House has admitted that a high ranking official should have been sent to the Paris march after the Charlie Hebdo attack, and the omission was glaring because more than 40 countries around the globe sent their leaders to event. The United States was represented by the US Ambassador to France, and Attorney General Eric Holder was in the city of Paris France while the event was going on although he did not attend. Holder was attending security meetings at the time. Josh Earnest, the spokesman for the White House, admitted to the media that “It’s fair to say we should have sent someone with a higher profile.” It looks like the White House was caught unaware, and did not expect the display of international unity that occurred for the Paris March.

There has been a lot of criticism of the White House because the only official to attend the Paris march honoring the victims of the Charlie Hebdo attack was Ambassador Jane Hartley. Many suspect that the error admission by the US government was intended to blunt the criticism that has been leveled. Josh Earnest suggested to reporters that the security procedures and protocols regarding the president and vice president was not capable of being put in place in time for Obama or Vice President Biden to travel to France for the Paris March. Earnest stated “There’s no doubt that had the president or vice president, on this very short time frame, gone to participate in this event that took place outdoors with more than a million people in attendance, that it would have significantly impacted the ability of those who attended the march to participate in the way they did yesterday.” 40 world leaders managed to attend but the leaders of the USA could not make it happen.