Annan accuses U.S. of losing its principles

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NEW YORK -- U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan called yesterday for the United States to respect international norms, pointedly contrasting Bush administration policies in Iraq with the values that made America great.

In one of his last major speeches before leaving office, Mr. Annan also warned that military measures and other steps in the war on terrorism were leaving U.S. allies "troubled and confused."

In what was widely interpreted as a criticism of the Bush administration's policies, Mr. Annan said that success on the world stage is possible "only ... if America remains true to its principles, including in the struggle against terrorism."

Mr. Annan said after his speech at the Harry Truman Presidential Museum and Library in Independence, Mo., that he was not meaning to criticize the Bush administration, but simply to encourage it to do the things that have earned the nation respect in the past.

But the suggestion that the country has strayed from its own values was unmistakable.

"When it appears to abandon its own ideals and objectives, its friends abroad are naturally troubled and confused. And states need to play by the rules towards each other, as well as towards their own citizens," he said in his speech.

"No state can make its own actions legitimate in the eyes of others. When power, especially military force, is used, the world will consider it legitimate only when convinced that it is being used for the right purpose -- for broadly shared aims -- in accordance with broadly accepted norms."

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack downplayed the criticism, saying it was normal for a U.N. chief to disagree with Washington on some issues.

"There's no secretary-general of the United Nations that's going to be in lock step with the United States or any other country with regard to its policies. It's not that person's job," he said.

But retiring Rep. Henry J. Hyde, Illinois Republican and chairman of the House International Relations Committee, suggested Mr. Annan was simply trying to divert attention from the United Nations' own management failures.