>>Yesterday, the day of these London bombings, was ironically(?)
>> a certain anniversary :-
>>
>> http://www.greenpeace.org/international/rainbow-warrior-bombing/

> My wife was just telling me about that... Amazing... I can see the
> issue
> from both sides but I had no idea it got that serious.

Summary:
Twenty year retrospective. French President sends secret agents /
frogmen by yacht and campervan to bomb and sink Greenpeace boat in
Auckland harbour, not far from where I live.

________________________

Another example of how insular even well educated and knowledgeable
and even intelligent US citizens can (often) be.
You don't, of course, have sole rights to this :-)

The fact that the event is seared forever into my psyche is helped by
the fact that the bombing occurred less than 10 miles from my home.
For those who are unaware of what reads more like a bad movie plot, it
goes something like this. All this is true (or at least my perspective
on the truth).

Greenpeace send their ship "Rainbow Warrior" to protest French Nuclear
testing in the South Pacific. RW stops at Auckland to rally support.
VERY high up French officials decide that GP are a real threat and
decide to sink their boat. One theory is that the bomb was meant to go
off at sea so the ship would be lost in deep water, but nobody who's
talking knows. French send a team of frogmen by charter yacht from
Noumea to NZ Bay of islands (far North). They bring the identifiably
French made (duh) military issue limpet mine(s).  A man/woman pair of
French special agents posing a s a honeymoon couple enter Nz and hire
a campervan and drive north and collect the hardware. This probably
includes London sold rare and traceable zodiac type craft and military
closed cycle rebreather diving tanks. (duh)(duh)(d ...).
Honeymoon pair drive south and spend a night at a motel owned, as it
happens, by the country's Prime Minister :-).

In Auckland they all meet on waterfront near an area where hundreds of
yachts are moored in a bay amongst breakwaters etc. An ideal spot away
from prying eyes. They think. Unbeknown to them the yachties run a
watching system to help stop theft from yachts. A quiet pair of hidden
men note van number plate details etc. Froggie-men take their zodiac,
on their rebreathers and head for the RW parked about a mile away.
They attach a two (at least) limpet mines with delay fuses and leave.
Returning to their van they sink their identifiable special zodiac in
a backwater (duh) and abandon their military rebreather tanks in same
backwater. Exit stage right they hope. Frogmen head north to yacht and
honeymoon couple elope.

Bomb explodes with ship at wharf with crew aboard. Boat sinks rapidly
at wharf. Greenpeace photographer realises his more valuable than life
cameras are below and goes back for them. Second bomb goes off and he
dies. Now its murder.

Due to dark watching men police promptly catch honeymoon secret agent
couple. Yachties flee north. NZ sends detectives to interview them but
due process does not allow them to be arrested and they vanish into
the Pacific Ocean stage north. As does their yacht. The Ovea???. It
never returns to the hire company. Somewhere north of NZ the French
reclaim their own and the yacht vanishes forever. Some may have hoped
that a NZ frigate saw justice done but frogmen in due course surface
to be awarded high state honours for services rendered by the French
govt.

Honeymoon couple are put on trial for murder in elaborate high profile
multimillion dollar security to prevent either NZers, Greenpeaceans or
the French cleaners putting matters to rest.

After much expectation on day one couple plead guilty in exchange for
a truly wimpy sentence and it's all a great fizzer. public trotting
out of details not wanted by the French. Soon after sentence begins
French government lean very very heavily in public and obviously in
private to have sentences served instead on a French Atoll in sth
pacific (aka club med military division). Trade sanctions and more,
which the French have always been good at persuading the rest of
Europe to impose on NZ goods imported to Europe are just one of the
threats. NZ govt goes belly up and agrees. Agents exit for pacific
holiday. In no time flat lady agent becomes pregnant (presumably
husband has been allowed to visit) and is repatriated to grateful for
services rendered mother France for compelling medical reasons. (yeah
right). male agent soon follows. Not pregnant as far as I know. NZ
looks totally silly, justice is not done or seen to be done, French
rub everyone's noses in it and business continues as usual. Some sort
of compensation details are worked out but neither this or any apology
that may or may not have been made are blazoned far enough afield to
catch my eye.

70 miles odd from Auckland at the bottom of the Firth of Thames the
Godwits gather before flying north to Siberia for our winter. Many
other wading and mud loving birds also gather on the mudflats to rest
and feed. The medium sized town of Thames nestles at the bottom of the
Firth. On the foreshore there is a Spartan but well thought out bird
hide with a raised wooden walkway where one can go and watch the
wading birds and take photos and eat your lunch and even sleep the
night if brave. A plaque on the wall says it was paid for by
compensation money from the Rainbow Warrior. Not many people know
that.

In due course the Prime Minister sold his motel. he advertised it as
having been frequented by famous international clients :-).

It's 20 years but somehow the gross injustice, arrogant effrontery and
sheer not rightness of it all has left a scar in my psyche, and I'm
sure many others, that colours any first reaction I have to many
things French. I know it was high up arrogant officialdom (including
the then President who was utterly a power unto himself) who wrought
this deed, but it is still surprisingly hard to be rid of it's marks.
A decent known about, obvious, sincere, public apology would, I think,
somewhat to my surprise, go some way towards setting things right.




        RM










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