French Disconnection

French Disconnection

What the Paris no-show says about the Obama Administration.

From the Wall Street Journal

The failure of the U.S. government to send a high-level representative to the historic Paris march against Islamist terror on Sunday is being roundly criticized, even by anchors at CNN. We share the sentiment, but this is no mere diplomatic snafu.

Press secretary Josh Earnest said Monday that President Obama regretted not joining more than 40 world leaders at the rally in defiance of the Charlie Hebdo killers and their al Qaeda sponsors. “I guess what I’m saying is that we agree that we should have sent someone with a higher profile,” Mr. Earnest added, which we guess passes for contrition.

Yet as recently as Sunday night officials dismissed criticism by noting the presence of Jane Hartley, the U.S. Ambassador to France nominated in June and an Obama campaign bundler. On Monday Mr. Earnest gestured at “security challenges.” Presumably the same risks attended the German Chancellor, the British and Israeli Prime Ministers, the Middle Eastern royals and African presidents.

If Mr. Obama was too much of a distraction, then surely someone else of cabinet rank was available. Secretary of State John Kerry claimed a previous commitment in India, but then why not Vice President Joe Biden or Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel ? None would have to fly commercial. Attorney General Eric Holder was in Paris but still chose not to go.

A fair conclusion is that the White House didn’t think it mattered. This fits Mr. Obama’s generally dismissive attitude toward Europe. He was happy to use the symbolism of a speech before tens of thousands of adoring Berliners in 2008 to burnish his theme of restoring America’s image in the world. But as President he has treated foreign policy like a distraction from his work of, well, going to Tennessee to pitch “free” college. America’s image has worsened.

The other signal sent by his French omission is this Administration’s continuing failure to appreciate the nature and scope of the Islamist threat. The murders at Charlie Hebdo and the kosher deli were attacks on innocents and our ally France. But they also represent a political ideology that threatens Western freedom and civilization. The ostensible leader of the free world should want to show solidarity against such a profound menace that will require Western unity to defeat.

On Monday a reporter asked Mr. Earnest about a counterterrorism summit the White House is convening next month in the context of “the battle against Islamist extremism.” Mr. Earnest corrected that the conference would discuss “all forms of violent extremism,” the White House’s preferred euphemism. Like Mr. Obama’s Paris no-show, this reveals a startling and dangerous failure to be honest about radical Islam.