Outgoing United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan used his farewell speech today to deliver a sharp rebuke to the Bush administration and its foreign policy.
Mr Annan, who has been an increasingly vocal critic of the war in Iraq, said the US had appeared to abandon the ideals of safeguarding human rights and the rule of law as it fought its war on terror.
The use of military force was only legitimate in the eyes of the world when it was being used for the "right purpose" and with "broadly shared aims", he said.
Speaking at the library of former US President Harry Truman in Independence, Missouri, Mr Annan warned that all states had to "play by the rules" towards each other.
The fact that might be "inconvenient" was no excuse to ignore it.
By contrast, the Secretary General heaped praise on President Truman, an early champion of the UN, as he set out five "lessons" he had learnt in his ten years in the job.
"Truman's name will forever be associated with the memory of far-sighted American leadership in a great global endeavour" Mr Annan said.
"And you will see that every one of my five lessons brings me to the conclusion that such leadership is no less sorely needed now than it was 60 years ago."
Mr Bush, who was never mentioned by name in the speech, has been a harsh critic of the UN and has had a strained relationship with Mr Annan.
Human rights and the rule of law were vital to global security and prosperity, the Secretary General said, pointing out that America had 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," Mr Annan said.
"When it appears to abandon its own ideals and objectives, its friends abroad are naturally troubled and confused."
AP