Anti-U.S. Sentiment Marks U.N. Gathering

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez speaks at the Mount Olive Baptist Church in the Harlem neighborhood of New York Thursday, Sept. 21, 2006. Chavez promised to double the amount of discounted heating oil his country is shipping to needy Americans, while also using his appearance at the Harlem church as an opportunity to deride President Bush as an "alcoholic and a sick man." (AP Photo/Shiho Fukada) (Shiho Fukada - AP)

"The fact was you could not as secretary-general do anything else but observe that the world looks this year in a pretty sorry state," Malloch Brown said. "That judgment was much more endorsed by all the speeches that followed than we had expected."

U.S. officials said they had taken note of the concern. They dismissed Chavez, who may also have ulterior motives _ Venezuela is seeking a seat on the Security Council, and he can gain political points by standing up to the United States.

"I think that there's perhaps more of an inclination to vent those emotions here because they think they're more likely to get a positive reception," U.S. Ambassador John Bolton said. "But I think that behavior doesn't do them any credit and it certainly doesn't benefit the United Nations."

Experts and diplomats said the trend was worrying particularly because it coincides with American rapprochement with the U.N. and the international community. Washington worked through the Security Council on Iran, North Korea and Lebanon, and dropped its opposition to a major council meeting on Mideast peace process Thursday. Bolton has turned to the council as the best way to stop the violence in Darfur.

While Bush delivered plenty of criticism toward Iran and Syria in his own speech to the General Assembly this year, he omitted the questions about the relevancy of the U.N. and toned down the doubts about whether it could meet the ideals of its founders.

On the first day of the General Assembly, Bush gave a toast in which he called Annan a "decent, honorable man" and thanked him for 10 years of service to "this important body."

That was the kind of praise Annan probably would have rather preferred to get during the height of the Iraq oil-for-food scandal, when the Bush administration kept silent in the face of calls from several U.S. congressmen for his ouster.

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AP correspondent Nick Wadhams has reported on the United Nations for two years.