Should the Consensus of Cuba and Syria Be Sought for a "Global Test" on U.S. Action (or Inaction)?

In the International Herald Tribune, Brian Knowlton writes about a quote that has not been seen too much in the French press, and whose implications have hardly been more studied in l'Hexagone…

Bush counselors including Condoleezza Rice, the national security adviser, assailed the Democratic senator repeatedly over what they called the "Kerry doctrine" — the senator's assertion that pre-emptive U.S. action against another country should meet a "global test" that persuades others of its legitimacy.

"What does that mean?" Rice asked on CNN. "Does that mean the consensus of the international community, of Cuba and countries like that?"

"Can you imagine trying to pass a global test in a Security Council that Syria had sat in?"