By M. Bilal Kenasari
WASHINGTON
The White House admitted Monday that the United States should have had a higher profile at a unity march in Paris on Sunday.
"I think it's fair to say that we should have sent someone with a higher profile" said White House press secretary Josh Earnest.
The rally was decided Friday evening after separate terror attacks in and around Paris left 17 dead and gripped France for three days beginning last Wednesday.
The U.S. did not have enough time to meet "significant security challenges" for President Barack Obama to attend, according to Earnest.
"Security requirements around a presidential-level visit or even a vice presidential-level visit are onerous and significant. And in a situation like this, they typically have a pretty significant impact on the other citizens who are trying to participate in a large public event like this." he said.
French President Francois Hollande invited world leaders to attend the rally. Nearly 50 leaders including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Turkey's Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attended, along with an estimated 1 million to 3 million people. The U.S. was represented by Jane Hartley, the country’s ambassador to France.
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder was in Paris on Sunday to attend a security meeting.
The White House was highly criticized on social media, and by those in the media, who viewed the relatively low-level representation as a snub.
Following the initial attacks, Obama said he directed U.S. law enforcement agencies to provide support to French counterparts. Speaking of the French people, he later said that the U.S. "stands with you today, stands with you tomorrow."
