"The Security Council is not just another stage on which to act out national interests."

"Human rights and the rule of law are vital to global security and prosperity," Annan's text said. When the U.S. "appears to abandon its own ideals and objectives, its friends abroad are naturally troubled and confused," he [Kofi Annan] said.

"As President Truman said, 'The responsibility of the great states is to serve and not dominate the peoples of the world,'" Annan said. (WaPo)