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| Ile du Diable - Devil's Island, Photo ET 1988 |
A French Template
for a US Scandal: L’Affaire Dreyfus Flynn.
“L’affaire Dreyfus” is
named after Alfred Dreyfus, a French Army Captain of Jewish descent. In 1894 Dreyfus
was wrongfully accused of spying for the German Embassy in Paris.
The French
counterintelligence who had planted a spy at the German Embassy intercepted a
handwritten communication with secret arms information from an unknown French
officer. The handwriting was falsely attributed to Artillery Captain Alfred
Dreyfus.
Dreyfus was convicted of
treason, publicly degraded, dishonored, his saber broken as the ultimate symbolic
punishment. This very public and spectacular case split French public opinion
along the fault lines of political preferences.
Captain Dreyfus who always
claimed his innocence was handed a life sentence. He was brought to the
terrible “Devil’s Island” off the coast of French Guyana, where he was the lone
prisoner. Devil’s Island lies in shark infested waters and had been shuttered
as a prison. It was reopened specially for Captain Dreyfus’ detention, a sign that
this perfect isolation was meant to be vengeful and protect the biased prosecutors.
The passions were flowing
when a new head of military intelligence, Lieutenant Colonel Georges Picquart
discovered that the handwriting belonged to someone else, to Army Major
Ferdinand Walsin Esterhazy.
Public opinion until
there had been fueled largely by a partly antisemitic press obedient to the
establishment. The French General Staff had willfully supported the demise of
Captain Dreyfus as a welcome distraction from their own problems of the day. The
new suspect, Esterhazy was indicted but hastily cleared from his accusations by
a court at the orders of political interests. Picquart the whistleblower was
even arrested, and later “promoted” to Northern Africa. The “Affaire” had become
an “Affaire d’Etat” a State Affair. And it was handled accordingly for the sake
of the “Raison d’Etat”. Raison d’Etat invokes purely political reasons for a
government to act without transparency, justice, or honesty in the higher interest
of the State. Some call this “Deep State” at work.
French intellectuals
started expressing more and more concern about what they saw as a miscarriage
of justice by a dysfunctional State. Public opinion split into “Dreyfusards”
and “Anti-Dreyfusards”. In 1898 famed French writer Emile Zola wrote an open
letter to the French President to protest the wrongdoings. The letter was
published on the front page of a newspaper, “L’Aurore” under the headline “J’accuse”.
Emile Zola denounced the conspiration and collusion at the highest levels of
the State and he named names.
As expected, Zola was
sued. He eventually fled into exile to London. Picquart was arrested again. The
pressure for a retrial of Captain Dreyfus however was growing. Those opposed
claimed “res judicata” that the matter had been adjudicated and cannot be
brought again. In 1899 though the Supreme Court gave its agreement for a
retrial. Dreyfus was brought back from Devil’s Island. The Martial Court
however sentenced him again to 10 years in prison this time, though it conceded
mitigating circumstances. He was offered a Presidential pardon, but in exchange
had to plead guilty. Thus “Raison d’Etat” was given a way out of embarrassment
and out of individual consequences for the conspirators.
Dreyfus was rehabilitated
in 1906 and reintegrated the Army as a Major. In the meantime, Zola had written
“Truth”. I visited Devil’s Island in 1988. It is a place of horror in Paradise under
the palm trees.
Back to the US and three-star
US General Michael Flynn. In 2017 Lt. Gen. Flynn became President Trump’s
National Security Advisor. He has the credentials of a highly competent
military leader. A registered Democrat, he was retired early in 2014 upon
disagreement with military strategies in the Obama Administration. Caught in
the “Russian collusion” epic, he was accused of dealing with the enemy, he was
fired, pursued, ruined, disparaged.
Does this sound familiar?
After seeing the plot as it developed in the “Affaire Dreyfus”, what looks
similar? It is open to anyone to conclude based on these keywords in the
Dreyfus story: spies intercept communications, they wrongfully accuse one
individual, he is publicly shamed, the spies use forgeries, the individual is sentenced
in a miscarriage of justice, he is ruined, he needs to plead guilty to obtain
some mercy, authorities invoke “res judicata” to bar any reopening of the case.
Devil’s Island in this case is symbolic for Flynn going through hell. As for
the Raison d’Etat behind all of this, history will have the final word.
Are you now a Dreyfusard
or an anti-Dreyfusard?
****
For readers outside the
US, a bit of an encyclopedia about typical US practices, as they appear in
judicial news about the Flynn case. These practices have always made me wonder:
- FISA Court, the Foreign Intelligence
Surveillance Court, is a secret Court approving electronic surveillance
and other means of investigation for foreign intelligence purposes. The
targeted individuals don’t know that they are a Court case. Compare to the
European Convention on Human Rights, article 6: “In the determination of his
civil rights and obligations or of any criminal charge against him, everyone is
entitled to a fair and public hearing within a reasonable time by an
independent and impartial tribunal established by law.”
- Federal judges. They are appointed for a
life term, which is a protection to keep them independent. Does it keep them
honest?
- Plea deals: when the accused in a criminal
case pleads guilty in exchange for reduced sentencing. In an extremely costly
judicial system as is in the US, it is a questionable practice, as a guilty
plea can be coerced out of an individual who just cannot afford to fight the
accusations. It is even more of a danger in a system where law-enforcement can
entrap a person into contradictions, or even lead someone willfully into
criminal behavior and then make an arrest. It is called framing. But you already
knew that from watching Hollywood movies.
