In response to the terrorist attack on a French satirical newspaper that left 12 dead Wednesday, Obama pledged U.S. assistance to French authorities, calling the assault a "cowardly, evil attack" on America's "oldest ally".

"These kinds of attacks can happen anywhere in the world," the president told journalists in the Oval Office.

The Paris-based newspaper was known to have published satire that poked fun at jihadists and Muslim extremists.

Obama stressed the importance of standing in solidarity with the French, saying, "The fact that this was an attack on journalists, an attack on our free press, also underscores the degree to which these terrorists fear freedom of speech and freedom of the press." 

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