French Sinking of Greenpeace Ship

At last the sordid truth about the sinking of the Greenpeace flagship, the Rainbow Warrior, is emerging from behind the lies and denials offered by the French government.

On Sept. 22, after having repeatedly challenged allegations made by Greenpeace and New Zealand Prime Minister David Lange that the French government was responsible, French Premier Laurent Fabius mustered the courage to admit to the world that French intelligence agents, acting under official authorization, planted the bombs that sank the Rainbow Warrior on July 10 in Auckland harbor, killing a Greenpeace photographer. This bombing can only be described as a premediated act of state terrorism.

Many people wonder how the otherwise progressive Socialist government of France could permit such a cowardly act of naked aggression and terror to be committed in its name, particularly against an organization like Greenpeace, which has earned worldwide, although admittedly not universal, acclaim for its nonviolent direct actions in opposition to the insane nuclear arms race and in support of protecting the Earth’s fragile biosphere from the ravages of humanity.

It is true that the crew of the Rainbow Warrior were conspiring to sail to Mururoa Atoll and attempt to disrupt the French nuclear-weapon test that was to take place there. However, the Rainbow Warrior’s mission was one of peace and hope for the future of the human race, which merited the highest of praise from all civilized and enlightened people, not the vengeful murderous acts that took the life of an innocent human being.

This was not the first act of savagery committed by the French government against Greenpeace. In 1972, another Greenpeace ship, the Greenpeace III, sailed to Mururoa Atoll where an atmospheric test of a French nuclear weapon was scheduled to take place. When the crew refused to leave the nuclear test zone, French minesweepers rammed the Greenpeace III, forcing it to return to New Zealand.

When the crew later dared to return to Mururoa, French commandos boarded the ship and savagely beat David McTaggert, now Greenpeace chairman, and another crewman, partially blinding McTaggert.

When photographs of the beatings were published, the world community was shocked. Not uncoincidentally, the French government ceased all atmospheric nuclear tests the following year.

It seems that once a nation has taken a bite of the proverbial “forbidden fruit” by acquiring the technical ability to build, test and use nuclear weapons, reason gives way to lust for the raw power that comes with possession of the Bomb. Enticed by this promise of power, the government of France has succumbed to its temptations and recklessly abandoned all principles of morality and international law.

As the 1972 Mururoa incident and the Rainbow Warrior bombing illustrate, the political bent of whichever party happens to be at the helm of the French government has proven to be largely irrelevant. President Francois Mitterand may be a Socialist, but like his more conservative predecessors, he has expressed his support for French development of nuclear weaponry. His administration, like those that came before, has fallen under the deadly spell of these instruments of mass annihilation.

One can only hope that this French government will make amends for the crimes it has committed against Greenpeace and the photographer who was killed, by compensating its victims, punishing the people who are responsible, and announcing that it will cease forever its nuclear testing in the South Pacific.

WILLIAM BOTHAMLEY

San Diego