No kudos for Bush in Annan’s U.N. farewell

Margaret Stafford

INDEPENDENCE, Mo. — In his farewell address Monday, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan criticized the Bush administration’s leadership on the global stage, warning that America must not sacrifice its Democratic ideals while waging war against terrorism.

“Human rights and the rule of law are vital to global security and prosperity,” Annan told a packed audience at the Truman Presidential Museum and Library.

When the U.S. “appears to abandon its own ideals and objectives, its friends abroad are naturally troubled and confused,” he said.

Annan, an increasingly vocal critic of the war in Iraq, also said the U.N. Security Council should be expanded to better reflect today’s world. He leaves the United Nations on Dec. 31 after 10 years as secretary-general.

In his remarks Monday, Annan said he wasn’t criticizing the United States. “What I am saying here is that when the U.S. works with other countries in a multilateral system, we do extremely well,” Annan said.

“Our world is in a sorry state, we have lots of problems around the world, we require that natural leadership role that the U.S. has played in the past and can play today,” he said.

“To appeal for cooperation and leadership should never be seen as an attack.”

In Washington, the State Department was reserved in its reaction to Annan’s remarks.

“He is entitled to his opinion,” spokesman Sean McCormack said.

“There’s no secretary-general of the United Nations that’s going to be in lockstep with the United States or any other country with regard to its policies,” McCormack said. “It’s not that person’s job.”

In response to a question from Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver of Missouri about the recently released Iraq Study Group report, Annan said the report clarified many issues but the world first needs to find a way to get the Iraqis to reconcile with one another.

“We need to be as active on the political front as we are on the military front,” he said. “We need to find a way to get the Iraqis to come together and settle their differences and renew their constitution.”

Annan said it was also important to get nearby countries, including Iran and Syria, involved in finding a solution to regional problems.

He said that the U.S. has a special responsibility to the world because it continues to have extraordinary power.

Annan summed up five principles that he considers essential: collective responsibility, global solidarity, rule of law, mutual accountability and multilateralism.

He chose the Truman museum for his final major speech in part because it is dedicated to a president who was instrumental in the founding of the United Nations.

Annan’s speech repeatedly praised the Truman administration. He never mentioned President Bush by name but made clear parallels.

“As President Truman said, ‘The responsibility of the great states is to serve and not dominate the peoples of the world,’” Annan said.

“He believed strongly that henceforth security must be collective and indivisible. That was why, for instance, he insisted when faced with aggression by North Korea against the South in 1950 on bringing the issue to the United Nations,” Annan said.

“Against such threats as these, no nation can make itself secure by seeking supremacy over all others.”

Annan also called for a reform of the Security Council, saying its membership “still reflects the reality of 1945.”

He suggested adding new members to represent parts of the world with less of a voice and said the permanent members, the world powers, “must accept the special responsibility that comes with their privilege.”

“The Security Council is not just another stage on which to act out national interests,” he said.

Annan has had a strained relationship with the Bush administration and with outgoing U.S. Ambassador John Bolton.

He was criticized by some in the administration after saying earlier this month that the level of violence in Iraq is much worse than that of Lebanon’s civil war and that some Iraqis believe their lives were better under Saddam Hussein.

He also has urged the international community to help rebuild Iraq, saying he was not sure Iraq could accomplish it alone.

Bolton is also leaving this month. He resigned in the wake of the November elections, which gave Democrats control over the next Congress, making his Senate confirmation unlikely.

After a private dinner at the White House for Annan, Bolton joked that “nobody sang ‘Kumbaya.’”

Told at the time of Bolton’s comment, Annan laughed and asked: “But does he know how to sing it?”

(Associated Press)