White House says oops to absence

(JNS.org) The White House admitted that it made a mistake by not sending a higher-ranking official to Paris for Sunday's unity rally against terrorism.

More than 40 heads of state attended the rally and marched together through the streets of Paris in solidarity with France after three Islamist terrorist attacks, which killed a combined 17 people. America was represented by U.S. Ambassador to France Jane Hartley, rather than President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, or Secretary of State John Kerry.

"It is fair to say we should have sent someone with a higher profile," White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters.

Earnest said the White House did not have enough time to address the "significant security challenges" that would have accompanied Obama's participation in the march.

In a statement, the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) called it "a disgrace" that the U.S. was "essentially absent" from "the most important international protest in history against the frightening and expanding scourge of Islamic terrorism." ZOA also noted Obama's record of refusing to use the term "Islamic terrorism" in favor of more general terms such as "violent extremism."