just for the symbolism of it all someone like a Biden of Kerry should have gone. Obama didnt need to go to this.

dont know why some of you engage in the tit for tat and just look at things objectively. someone should have been sent over there. the end.

no need to rehash what bush, the french, or anyone else did or didnt do years ago or when we went through something. somebody with stature not named obama should have been there.

its not that complicated.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't know, I'm usually the first to defend Obama on almost anything. However, this was disappointing. I think we made the wrong call here.

The WH press secretary basically said it was a screw up.

And yet so many people on this board peddling really hard to defend the decision.

If there is one thing Republicans got right about Barack Obama, from the very start, it is that he apologizes too quickly.

Huh?

Conservatives have the memory of gnats. I bet you also forgot that you hate France.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB124044156269345357
http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2009/06/barack-obamas-top-10-apologies-how-the-president-has-humiliated-a-superpower
http://nation.foxnews.com/president-obama/2012/09/03/five-times-obama-has-apologized-america

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't know, I'm usually the first to defend Obama on almost anything. However, this was disappointing. I think we made the wrong call here.

The WH press secretary basically said it was a screw up.

And yet so many people on this board peddling really hard to defend the decision.

If there is one thing Republicans got right about Barack Obama, from the very start, it is that he apologizes too quickly.

Huh?

I think we should convene an investigatory panel. Benghazi!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't know, I'm usually the first to defend Obama on almost anything. However, this was disappointing. I think we made the wrong call here.

The WH press secretary basically said it was a screw up.

And yet so many people on this board peddling really hard to defend the decision.

If there is one thing Republicans got right about Barack Obama, from the very start, it is that he apologizes too quickly.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't know, I'm usually the first to defend Obama on almost anything. However, this was disappointing. I think we made the wrong call here.

The WH press secretary basically said it was a screw up.

And yet so many people on this board peddling really hard to defend the decision.

Muslima wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Muslima wrote:The awkward moment when dictators, leaders and supporters of terrorist nations march for freedom of speech and against terrorism. It is a funny world we live in, I almost wish this was satire~

I am glad you finally recognize the supporters of terrorist Hamas as supporters of terrorism.

As they say, one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter.

Your sense of humor is interesting, to say the least.

Just a reminder that no one in France took offense by Obama's absence. No French newspaper made a big deal at all about it -- they were mostly slightly puzzled that it was made a big deal here.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not a stellar moment for Obama, but I agree with the poster who points out the irony of millions of people out in the streets and leaders of multiple countries reacting to the deaths of 16 people in France while virtually ignoring the thousands of victims of Boko Haram.

Not all of "us" just because CNN doesn't cover it doesn't mean people are ignoring it.

I'm glad to hear this. Please direct me to the website, TV, radio where they are giving this issue the attention it should have and any resolution.

I haven't looked this evening, but I saw it all over CNN, FoxNews, Drudge and Twitter last night.

But you have to remember, that is a very isolated, extremely dangerous region in Nigeria. It's not like it's crawling with international journalists. Add to that, the Nigerian government isn't exactly being as vocal as the French government. The Nigerian government intentionally weakened its military over the past decade. It used to be one of the best in Africa, often contributing peacekeepers to UN missions. But after the coup, the government has feared a strong military. It's probably why they also cancelled the training our military was giving theirs. They are not equipped or trained to properly fight BH. So I can see why they wouldn't want to draw too much attention to attack and highlight their weakness.

And to the poster who suggested this was another thing Obama had his head in the sand about. No. And this is coming from someone who did not vote for him and would never in a million years. But our hands are tied. The Nigerian government is a known human rights violator. Our own laws put huge limitations on the support we can provide under those circumstances.

Anonymous wrote:OP, were any of them here when we got bombed in Boston?
This was an impromptu gathering and some folks showed up w/o an invite.

this

OP, were any of them here when we got bombed in Boston?
This was an impromptu gathering and some folks showed up w/o an invite.

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:It turns out that the French didn't want Netanyahu to come:

http://www.haaretz.com/.premium-1.636557?v=D9B18F0B6D785F827EDA7137FD551BC6

"French President Francois Hollande conveyed a message to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the weekend asking him not to come to Paris to take part in the march against terror on Sunday, according to an Israeli source who was involved in the contacts between the Elysees Palace and the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem. The fact that this message had been conveyed was first reported by Channel 2."

I'm no Netanyahu fan, but it was a lot more appropriate for him to be there than for some tinhorn African dictators whose countries have no free press.

Oh yes, the "tinhorn African dictators" who are there because of the French's colonization!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Good heavens, you people will complain about everything. I'm sad about what happened, but it's time the French woke up and understood this is a problem in their own country. It is tragic, but it was 17 people, not 9/11. (France being the hotbed of 9/11 deniers, btw).

We could have sent Biden, because it's not like he does anything, but Obama on such short notice? Overkill.

As a Frenchwoman, I take offense at your statement. No one in France has denied 9/11, whatever that means. The French do not need waking up, because they and everybody else except for you, understand that "islamist" terrorism is a global menace. BTW France has dealt with very serious terrorist attacks before (Metro bombings), but from the Algeria terrorists, linked to its colonial past in that country. It is as equipped as any nation to fight terrorism.

I've not heard any French people complaining of the US President's absence. We helped you fight against England for your independence, but chose not to go to Iraq with you (because Bush lied about WMDs, remember?). Who cares about old history. Our interests are aligned when fighting terrorist threats and that is what matters. The presence or absence of Obama today at the rally will not change that.

You conveniently skipped over the magnitude of atrocities committed by French colonists against Algerians as they sought to prevent them from achieving independence. So relentless were they that there were several assassination attempts against De Gaulle after he agreed to a pathway to independence for Algeria.

The French and other colonial powers should not brag about their record of human rights when it comes to the countries they colonized.

This is why I'm glad we didn't go. Europeans were no great friend to people of color. They colonized them and raped their land for resources. There's a lot of hate there and Americans have enough problems.

kicked out the trainers or moved from practice to really fighting?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not a stellar moment for Obama, but I agree with the poster who points out the irony of millions of people out in the streets and leaders of multiple countries reacting to the deaths of 16 people in France while virtually ignoring the thousands of victims of Boko Haram.

Not all of "us" just because CNN doesn't cover it doesn't mean people are ignoring it.

I'm glad to hear this. Please direct me to the website, TV, radio where they are giving this issue the attention it should have and any resolution.

Agree. This is not on the front page of WP. Not even on the front page of the World section. Ditto the NYT. It is front pages news on the World section of CNN, however.

This is where I heard about it.
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2015/01/12/violence-continues-in-nigeria-after-boko-haram-deadliest-massacre-reportedly/?intcmp=latestnews
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2015/01/05/boko-haram-fighters-overpower-multinational-force-in-attack-at-nigeria-chad/

Me too. Thats where I heard about it. Is boko haram another terrorist group the Obama admin has stuck their heads in the sand over? By all means Obama should go there too. Or will Michelle just hashtag something about it?

Not exactly. We've been training their army. They just kicked us out.

http://news.yahoo.com/nigeria-cancels-us-military-training-fight-boko-haram-211424869.html