The march of nations. Except for one.
The United States of America, Barack Obama, President, was inexcusably absent from one of the most critical turning points in the war between radical Islam and the West since 9/11.
No Obama. No Joe Biden. No John Kerry from State. No Chuck Hagel or Ashton Carter from Defense. Not even Eric Holder from Justice, who happened to have been in Paris.
Yet there was British Prime Minister David Cameron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, Jordan’s King Abdullah and so many others — most extraordinarily including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
All linked arms with French President Francoise Hollande, leader of the country where terrorists killed 17 in a deliberate attack on democratic values, leader of one of America’s most stalwart allies in the war on terror.
Still worse, Obama’s abdication of leadership reflects a larger presidential failure to convey the gravity of the Charlie Hebdo attack, even if the substance of his anti-terror policy remains strong.
LUPICA: America betrays its values by not sending top U.S. officials to Paris unity rally.
On Friday, shortly after the assault reached its fatal climax, Obama appeared at a campaign-style rally in Tennessee to tout economic good news. He opened with happy talk, then devoted 310 perfunctory words to the events in Paris. Two hours later, he delivered more happy talk at a second Tennessee rally.
New York Daily News Cover for January 12 2014
On Saturday, he opened his weekly radio address: “Hi, everybody. About a year ago, I promised that 2014 would be a breakthrough year for America. And this week, we got more evidence to back that up.”
Bypassing Paris, the President closed, “Thanks, everybody, and have a great weekend.”
Not in Paris. Not in the U.S. Not in the world under siege.
