Propaganda? You Tell Me

Which of these news sources is accurately reporting the news?

• CNN: Annan Says Bye, Tells U.S. to Use Power Wisely
• ABC News: No Kudos for Bush in Annan's Farewell
• BBC News: Annan Chides U.S. in Final Speech
• Le Monde: In One of his Last Speeches, Annan Severely Criticizes the Bush Administration

What Annan Actually Said: No nation can make itself secure by seeking supremacy over others... both security and development ultimately depend on respect for human rights and the rule of law.... As Truman said, "We must, once and for all, prove by our acts conclusively that Right Has Might."

That's why this country [the U.S.] has historically been in the vanguard of the global human rights movement. But that lead can only be maintained if America remains true to its principles, including in the struggle against terrorism. When it appears to abandon its own ideals and objectives, its friends abroad are naturally troubled and confused.... 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.

No community anywhere suffers from too much rule of law; many do suffer from too little... This we must change. The US has given the world an example of a democracy in which everyone, including the most powerful, is subject to legal restraint. Its current moment of world supremacy gives it a priceless opportunity to entrench the same principles at the global level. As Harry Truman said, "We all have to recognize, no matter how great our strength, that we must deny ourselves the license to do always as we please."

My vote's with Le Monde on this one...