Kerry: America must bolster UN, 'end the empire of oil'

In a speech on the global dynamics of terrorism, Kerry had several quotable and important points. Some highlights as reported in USA Today.

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"Great American presidents, from Roosevelt to Truman to Kennedy, understood that success requires a community of nations working together, drawing strength from shared sacrifice and steadfast commitment to our shared ideals," he said.

He added that "great alliances" should be formed again and "that means strengthening and reforming — not weakening and walking away from — the ability of the UN to play a forceful role in troubled places like Iraq and Darfur."
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The "war on terror," Kerry said, was not principally about the U.S.-led military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, but was "fundamentally a war within Islam for the heart and soul of Islam, stretching from Morocco east to Indonesia." He said terrorist threats against the West and within Muslim nations exist in part because "no center of moral authority has emerged to stop those who would murder in the name of Islam."
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Kerry, D-Mass., said unified pressure from the democracies of Europe, Asia and the Americas would be more effective "to counter the teaching of hatred in madrassas (Muslim religious schools) throughout the Middle East. ... And we must work with moderate Muslims, especially clerics, to permanently discredit the belief that the murder of innocents can be justified in the name of God, race, or nation."
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Kerry said developing effective replacements for oil-based fuels also was key. The West's appetite for petroleum from the Middle East "has frustrated every impulse towards modernization of the region, while giving its regimes the resources to hold onto power. The international community of democratic nations cannot afford to continue funding both sides of the war on terror. We must end the empire of oil."