LONDON -- Politicians and officials are sometimes their countries' worst enemies. Some politicians and officials behave ineptly and tactlessly in ways that damage the national interests of their country.
We all need to remember the words of the U.S. Declaration of Independence. The third paragraph of the declaration, adopted July 4, 1776, affirmed that "all men are created equal . . . (and have) certain unalienable Rights, (that) among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness." The U.S. Constitution reaffirmed these principles and asserted the principle of justice for all.
Unfortunately, some actions of the present U.S. administration -- such as holding combatants captured in Iraq and Afghanistan without trial, and in legal limbo, at Guatanamo Bay, Cuba -- suggest that there are American politicians and officials who have forgotten these basic principles and who do not care how much damage the maintenance of this prison does to America's prestige and standing in the world.