J'ACCUSE!:

R.D. Hooker Jr., a retired Army colonel, served in the White House during the administrations of George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Donald Trump. He worked in the National Security Council during the latter three presidencies.

In the late 19th century, a French army officer named Alfred Dreyfus was falsely accused of treason, in a national scandal that became a cause celebre affecting civil-military relations in France into modern times. The Dreyfus affair, as it was known, transfixed the nation, bringing to the surface the worst in French politics of the day. Dreyfus was a Jew, a rarity in the French officer corps. He was Alsatian and spoke German and, therefore, was suspect as not a "real" Frenchman. Though he was later proved innocent, Dreyfus was convicted on forged evidence, publicly degraded in a military ceremony and shipped to Devil's Island. Condemned by his government, his leaders and the public, Dreyfus maintained his innocence and patriotism with dignity and composure. Many years later, he was rehabilitated and served during the First World War. His is a cautionary tale that reverberates to this day.

The parallels between the Dreyfus affair and the treatment of Army Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman are striking. As a senior director on the National Security Council staff early in the Trump administration, I recruited Alex based on his brilliance, language skills and remarkable military record. Alex is a Jewish immigrant from the former Soviet Union, and Russian was his first language. His is a quintessential American story. I know him to be a patriot and a professional military officer in the best sense: apolitical, nonpartisan, selfless and deeply committed to this country and its values. He proved his loyalty above all by serving this nation in combat in Iraq, where he was wounded. To this day, he wears the reminders of that service on his uniform and in his body.

He is among the finest officers I have ever known.

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