The White House dropped the ball.

Administration officials admitted as much Monday, saying they should have had a higher profile official in Paris on Sunday when the world came together in a show of support against terrorism.

“We should have sent someone with a higher profile to be there,” Press Secretary Josh Earnest said Monday.

No kidding.

More than 40 world leaders were on hand in Paris for the massive rally against Islamic terrorism. The rally came at the end of a week that saw 12 people die when Islamic terrorists attacked a news magazine in the French capital.

While big names from all over the world were able to make the trip, the United States sent our Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland and ambassador to France Jane Hartley as our representatives.

With egg on its face, the White House decided to backpedal after first sounding like children caught in a lie.

What makes this even worse is Attorney General Eric Holder was in Paris over the weekend for meetings but for some reason was unable to attend the historic event. Instead he left early after the meetings and before the rally.

Secretary of State John Kerry, who also did not attend, first called any criticism “quibbling.” Proving they are followers and not leaders, the administration later announced that Kerry would be in Paris sometime this week.

In times of tragedy it is good to know that our leadership is ready to lead from behind.

Earnest said on Monday the United States stands “four-square behind our allies in France.”

Well, at least two steps behind.

Granted it would have been a lot for President Obama to go, considering all the security concerns, but we need to send a better message than having Holder leave town early.

Perhaps the president has forgotten that we are at war with these terrorists, or at least they are at war with us. Having a big name standing with other leaders of the world and proclaiming we are not going to back down would have sent the right message to our allies.

It would have shown our actions speak just as loud as our words. Instead, we sent mixed signals to both our friends and foes — again.

It is a common theme with this White House, as they seem to try and please everyone at the same time. But this is a clear case of right vs. wrong. There is no gray area here. And we should know better.

It wasn’t so long ago that the world came to America to show support when we were the victims of a terrorist attack. It was nice to know then who did and who didn’t have our backs. Right now it is hard to figure out just where our leaders stand — or what they are willing to stand up for.

Perhaps there has never been a time when this White House needed to stand up against the evils of the world and not hide behind political correctness that looks an awful lot like fear.

Maybe it was fine when we were talking about the hacking of some company’s email accounts, but people where shot in the streets of Paris and there can be no mistaking what that means.

What’s cloudy is the way our president and his group answer that attack. It’s time for us to show our allies we are ready to stand along side them and fight for what is right. We have done it before, but we have never led from behind.

You can’t win anything unless you are willing to take a stand. Let’s hope the White House learned its lesson before it is too late.

Flowers lay outside Charlie Hebdo headquarters in Paris

Claude Paris