“Huh? Presidents travel to places on the spur of the moment all the time. I mean, agree or disagree but some of these excuses are very entertaining. No traveling on a whim Mr. President.”
And then Fox News breathlessly makes up a stat that it costs bazillions of dollars, as if the POTUS should take the red-eye out of Dulles like the rest of us slobs and hope that he gets a window seat this time. No thanks.
SOOO predictable. Obama would have been “wasteful of taxpayer money,” “grandstanding” and “adding security complications that cost the good people of France money too.”
Are you sure of that? Inasmuch as you might have meant to describe the large and influential countries, I am afraid that the “only three countries” comment overlooks what is happening in countries such as Spain, and especially Belgium. The nature of the attacks in Paris and the identity of the perpetrators are not ignored in countries that are dealing with similar issues, and often of a more narrow and equally violent scale.
It would be safe to believe that the hottest line of communication after the acts of terror in Paris was to Brussels.
It’s just so funny watching people twisting themselves into knots over their sudden concern for France when on every other day of the year they condemn everything about Europe and say Obama is trying to turn us into a “socialist” country…like France.
The French have been in the “War on Terror” long before we discovered other people hated us on 9/11. Let’s not pretend we know more about terrorism than the French, Brits, or Germans.
I am not certain which posts the above addresses, but I think that commenting about people who have expressed concerns over the recent events in Paris is a bit gratuitous. Not everyone has remained oblivious to the news that is not CNN or local US villages fodder. And not everyone is oblivious to the history of Europe and its struggles with an immigration that is vastly different from our own.
Well, obviously the EU is based in Brussels. Obama was one of the first world leaders to reach out after the attacks, according to the French government.
Just like Benghazi was not a concern for the four Americans who died…no wait–that has been the stated reason for the dozens of time- and money-wasting Congressional inquisitions.
marie, do people actually think that Obama’s absence from a photo op means he doesn’t care about fighting terrorism? Or has it just become such a habit to speak out about every last living thing he does if you are a member of the opposition?
Do you really think that calling Brussels was about the EU? On a matter of local security, intelligence, and police coordination? Seriously?
As far as “one of the first to reach” … would that not be a matter of pure routine? Not a negative nor a positive as it would be business as usual, and not really related to your earlier comment about only three countries providing intelligence and law enforcement.
Interestingly, the notable disappointment with the White House in this situation was not coming from the usual critics as they were unsurprised by the decision not to attend causing the White House to admit messing up this morning. And, it’s not about marching or participating. It’s about the lack of leading. But, I don’t think everyone discussing this here is paying much attention to these details.
marie, newsflash: Obama is not running for office. We get that a large percentage of the population despises him and has endeavored to undermine him (including “making him a one-term president,” even though that didn’t work out) at every turn since the day he was inaugurated. You know as well as I do that if he had gone on a quickie trip to Paris for the photo opp that the wastefulness of that excursion (“when we should be devoting all our resources to fighting terrorism”) would be all over Fox News and the Daily Mail.
Yes, seriously, Sally! You made a comment about ONLY three countries sharing intelligence and law enforcement, and then proceeded with a comment about the EU being a Brussels. I am not sure how much you know about what the EU deals with on a regular basis, but I did find such comment rather strange.
I wrote about how Spain’s and especially Belgium’s role in sharing intelligence and police forces in terms of combatting Islamist terrorist who move rapidly. I suppose that you have not followed closely the events of the past years that have linked the Netherlands, Belgium, and France in dealing with the previous murders next to the Grand Sablon in Brussels? One of the big issues after the attacks in Paris was the ability of the Jihadists to reach Belgium of Holland via Reims and avail themselves of the protection of a number of safe houses from Charleroi to Antwerp.
The bottom line? Paris and Brussels have been linked at the hip in their efforts to combat the growing threat of radical Muslims. This is a matter of France and Belgium and their law enforcement. It is not a matter that is in the domain of the EU on a predominantly active basis. The EU Commission is not in charge of operational activities. It contributes to the enhancement of law enforcement cooperation on a different basis. Fwiw, Europol is located in the Netherlands in The Hague.
marie, newsflash: Obama is not running for office.
Aside from sounding snotty, I don’t know what this means.
The White House spokesperson is now saying he should have gone so I am done with this. Of course, he should have gone. If you still disagree, fight with the White House.
xiggi, you clearly know a lot more about this topic than I do. I misunderstood your earlier comment and also left out the word “major” in my remark about countries helping with this latest terrorist threat (I wasn’t referring to ongoing intelligence/resource sharing). That was my understanding based on what I have been reading over the last few days.
A lot of what could be easily addressed and made clear in an actual conversation seems to get lost in the linear form of these threads.
It would have been a one way trip.