New information (another story here) discloses once and for all that the French government of Francois Mitterand deliberately lied to the world about their own act of destruction: the 1985 sinking of the Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior.
Because Mitterand faced a "Watergate-like" scandal and faced his own potential political downfall, he quickly told the world that Britain's Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) was somehow deeply involved in the plot to sink Rainbow Warrior, even while firing his own defence and secret service chiefs. The line France deliberately leaked -- that the UK was trying to discredit France -- seems to have been itself an outgrowth of anti-British emotion, combined with manic fear that the French president might be discredited. And as Britain's ambassador at the time (Sir John Fretwell -- an ideal name for a British statesman if there ever were) said, "Even the fabric of the state is beginning to shake." In point of fact, however, this summer it was made public once and for all that Mitterand himself authorized the bombing.
French willingness to blame Britain for their own sins may finally be forced to subside.
But this blogger believes the worst cowardice of all is demonstrated by "former army officer" turned "respectable businessman" Louis Dallias, with whom the New Zealand authorities never caught up. He's sorry somebody died, but he was "only following orders."
Because Mitterand faced a "Watergate-like" scandal and faced his own potential political downfall, he quickly told the world that Britain's Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) was somehow deeply involved in the plot to sink Rainbow Warrior, even while firing his own defence and secret service chiefs. The line France deliberately leaked -- that the UK was trying to discredit France -- seems to have been itself an outgrowth of anti-British emotion, combined with manic fear that the French president might be discredited. And as Britain's ambassador at the time (Sir John Fretwell -- an ideal name for a British statesman if there ever were) said, "Even the fabric of the state is beginning to shake." In point of fact, however, this summer it was made public once and for all that Mitterand himself authorized the bombing.
French willingness to blame Britain for their own sins may finally be forced to subside.
But this blogger believes the worst cowardice of all is demonstrated by "former army officer" turned "respectable businessman" Louis Dallias, with whom the New Zealand authorities never caught up. He's sorry somebody died, but he was "only following orders."
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