U.S. leader skips peace rally

Both parties disappointed in President Barack Obama’s absence at march

The world watched as nearly 3.7 million people, including 40 world leaders, took the stage in Paris to show their solidarity against terrorism.

Leaders such as German Chancellor Angela Merkel, British Prime Minister David Cameron, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas were all in attendance, according to the Daily Mail UK.

But from the United States, the leader of the free world, there was only the American ambassador to France.

This was an enormous failure on President Barack Obama’s part. Not showing up to the world’s largest anti-terrorism rally to date is sending the world a message that the U.S. is no longer relevant in the rest of the world’s affairs. To be fair, Obama apologized a few days later for not sending a higher profile representative. The damage, however, was already done.

For decades, we have always had a strong influence on and relevance in the world. Back in 1989, our influence was unwavering as President Ronald Reagan spoke those famous words, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” and it was done.

Our influence only grew after the 9/11 terror attacks as President George W. Bush sent a message of courage and justice to the world. The world, for the most part, respected us.

Obama was first sworn into office in 2009, and our relevance on the world’s stage has been decreasing ever since. Our alliances have been weakened, including our relationship with our strongest ally in the Middle East — Israel. Our officials dismissed Israel while Hamas fired thousands of rockets into their country.

As tensions rise in the Middle East and around the world, it is clear that this is not the time for us to be passive in the face of the world, especially with the threats to our freedom more real now than they ever have been. Some of those threats include the Islamic State, al-Qaidaand even North Korea.

The world needs to know that we are to be taken seriously, and the lack of presence at last week’s rally sentan opposing message.

If Israel and Palestine can forget their differences and stand together to put a stop to terrorism, then so can the U.S.

According to The Hill, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said in a statement Monday, “We should have sent someone with a higher profile to be there.” He also said the security that would have to be in place would have been “onerous and significant.”

This is coming from the same administration that, according to the New York Post, forced a soldier and his future wife to relocate their wedding because of the president’s security detail he uses while golfing. The excuse of not going just because of how big the security detail would have been is simply not acceptable.

Netanyahu attended amidst the threats against him, according to The Jewish Daily Forward. If the Israeli Prime Minister was there in spite of security issues, there is no excuse for the U.S. President to have been absent.

According to the New York Daily News, both the president and vice president’s schedules were clear during the day of the rally. This shows how apathetic this administration has become.

It is a very dangerous thing for our country to be absent in the world’s affairs at this point in time. This is telling the world that our nation does not care.

The world is watching us. Our president should have been in Paris. He was not there when we needed him to be. The nation known for its unparalleled defense of
freedom was absent.

Now the world knows where we stand, and our reputation is soiled. It is time to fix what has been broken and show the world that we are determined to stop terrorism, whatever the cost may be.

Ozburn is an opinion writer.