U.N. Chief Kofi Annan gave a farewell address with a few digs on America’s failure to live up to its stated ideals. Some of his comments include:
“…the U.S. has a special responsibility to the world because it continues to have extraordinary power.”
"As President Truman said, 'The responsibility of the great states is to serve and not dominate the peoples of the world. He believed strongly that henceforth security must be collective and indivisible…Against such threats as these, no nation can make itself secure by seeking supremacy over all others."
“(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."
One might think grown men wouldn’t behave childishly over the fracture between the Bush administration and the United Nations. John Bolton disabused me of this notion with his wisecrack after a White House dinner honoring Mr. Annan.
After a private dinner Tuesday night 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?"
If only the people of the world had leaders capable of joining hands and singing “Kumbaya”. The hypercompetitive, super sized ego, power heads in charge of many countries continue to do their people a disservice…
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