John Kerry Attempts To Defend U.S. No Show At Paris March

by William Teach | January 12, 2015 8:13 am

He calls this failure “quibbling”

(Fox News[1]) Secretary of State John Kerry called criticism that no top U.S. officials attended Sunday’s massive march against terrorism in Paris “quibbling” Monday, even as he announced a trip to the French capital later this week for talks on countering Islamist violence.

Kerry announced his plans at a press conference in the Indian city of Ahmedabad, where he had made a long-scheduled appearance at an international investment conference Sunday ahead of President Barack Obama’s planned visit to that country later this month.

“I would have personally very much wanted to have been [in Paris],” Kerry said, “but couldn’t do so because of the commitment that I had here and it is important to keep these kinds of commitments.”

When asked about criticism directed at the Obama administration for not sending a high-ranking official to take part in the march, Kerry said, “I really think that this is sort of quibbling a little bit in the sense that our Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland was there and marched, our ambassador [to France Jane Hartley] was there and marched, many people from the embassy were there and marched.”

Unfortunately, Victoria Nuland was not present in Paris. Instead, she attended a march in Washington, D.C.

Anyhow, it is understandable that Kerry was not able to get away from his commitment. How about Obama? Where was he Sunday? How about Vice President Joe Biden? VPs are typically sent off for functions like this, and especially since the whole reason Obama picked him as his running mate in 2008 was for his foreign policy experience.

Did either even attend the march in D.C.? We know that Biden was actually in Delaware. Obama apparently had to stay in town[2] to visit with the San Antonio Spurs on Monday.

Eric Holder[3] was Paris, and failed to appear for the march.

“I want to emphasize that the relationship with France is not about one day or one particular moment,” Kerry said. “It is an ongoing longtime relationship that is deeply, deeply based in the shared values, and particularly the commitment that we share to freedom of expression.”

“No single act of terror, no two people with a AK-47s, no hostage-taking at a grocery store is ever going to prevent those who are committed to the march for freedom to continue to march and to ultimately see all people enjoy their rights, to be able to enjoy the protections that come with that freedom,” he added.

Sounds a bit like some excuse making

Wow pic.twitter.com/revofWV3Ax[4]

— Jon Passantino (@passantino) January 12, 2015[5]

When you’ve lost the NY Daily News…

Crossed at Pirate’s Cove[6]. Follow me on Twitter @WilliamTeach[7].

Endnotes:
  1. Fox News: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/01/12/kerry-announces-planned-paris-trip-says-criticism-for-missing-march-quibbling/
  2. stay in town: http://twitchy.com/2015/01/11/president-obama-isnt-in-paris-but-he-will-be-in-d-c-tomorrow-honoring-the-san-antonio-spurs/
  3. Eric Holder: http://twitchy.com/2015/01/11/terrorist-defender-free-press-opponent-holder-represents-us-in-paris/
  4. pic.twitter.com/revofWV3Ax: http://t.co/revofWV3Ax
  5. January 12, 2015: https://twitter.com/passantino/status/554454870627872769?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
  6. Pirate’s Cove: http://www.thepiratescove.us/
  7. @WilliamTeach: http://twitter.com/WilliamTeach

Source URL: https://rightwingnews.com/democrats/john-kerry-attempts-defend-u-s-no-show-paris-march/