Mitterrand ordered Greenpeace ship sabotaged - paper

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/swissinfo.html?siteSect=143&sid=5931888&cKey=1120926031000

PARIS (Reuters) - The sabotage of the Greenpeace flagship the Rainbow Warrior 20 years ago was carried out with the "personal authorisation" of France's late president Francois Mitterrand, documents showed on Saturday.

Le Monde newspaper published extracts in its Saturday edition of a 1986 account written by Pierre Lacoste, the former head of France's DGSE foreign intelligence service, giving the clearest demonstration yet of Mitterrand's direct involvement in the sinking of the campaign vessel.

Portuguese photographer Fernando Pereira died in the attack on the ship that was leading Greenpeace's campaign against French nuclear tests on the Mururoa Atoll in the Pacific.

"I asked the president if he gave me permission to put into action the neutralisation plan that I had studied on the request of Monsieur (Charles) Hernu," Lacoste wrote. Hernu was defence minister at the time.

[Jara sang]

1. I wonder how the repukes will take this.

On the one hand he destroyed a commie pinko leftist eco-terrorist maritime vessel on the other hand... he is French. They won't know were to direct their hatred, the misguided, bigoted fucks.

[Voltaire99]

11. Heh, nice one. (nt)

[dArKeR]

2. It should not take 20 years to prosecute terrorists!

[WhiteTara]

3. kick

:kick:

[theearthisround]

4. Mitterrand Approved Sinking of Greenpeace Ship (Pres Authorized Terrorism)

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/10/international/europe/10greenpeace.html?ei=5088&en=452549f4684d53d7&ex=1278648000&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&pagewanted=print

Twenty years ago, two French secret service frogmen attached mines to the hull of a ship owned by the environmentalist group Greenpeace as it lay anchored in a New Zealand harbor, and the explosions ripped large holes in it.

--------
Devoting an entire page to the affair, the story begins on the front page with a large cartoon of Mr. Mitterrand, dressed as a frogman, a snorkel on his head and a bomb under one arm, telling schoolchildren studying history: "At that time, only presidents had the right to carry out terrorism."

--------
His report says he discussed the plan with Mr. Mitterrand - it is customary in France that the head of the secret service reports directly to the president - in a meeting on May 15, 1985. "I asked the president if he gave me the authorization to put into action the neutralization plan (for the ship) that I had prepared at the request of Mr. Hernu," Mr. Lacoste wrote. At the time, Charles Hernu was the minister of defense.

"He gave me his agreement while stressing the importance he attached to the nuclear tests. I did not go into greater detail on the plan because the authorization was sufficiently explicit," Adm. Lacoste wrote

[SpiralHawk]

5. The bastard

I knew he was guilty all along.

But you can't sink a rainbow.

Rainbow Warrior II now sails the seas.

For an account of the Legend of the Rainbow Warriors:
http://www.chiron-communications.com/communique%207-9.html


"Throughout the inhabited world, in all times and under every circumstance, the myths of man have flourished; and they have been the living inspiration of whatever else may have appeared out of the activities of the human body and mind...Myth is the secret opening through which the inexhaustible energies of the cosmos pour into human cultural manifestation." - Joseph Campbell

[Gyre]

6. Nice legacy there.

NOT! Jess move along folks, nothing to see here, jest another fascist without the courage to own his own mistakes.

[autorank]

7. Can't trust those damn Socialists!!!

Our political parties are a joke, and I'm a loyal Democrat. My god, this guy was a f'ing Socialist. I remember when this happened. The French did it and I just assumed this asshole gave the go ahead.

It makes me sick.

[IndianaGreen]

8. Mitterrand wasn't a real Socialist anymore than he was a Gaullist

Mitterrand changed his spots several times during his career, changing political labels whenever convenient. You will find his transcript of PBS Newshour interesting:

PETER MORGAN, ITN: Francois Mitterrand was born in 1916. The son of a rural station master, he made his mark at his local school in the Chironte. Young Mitterrand, they said, would not be part of any group unless he could be its leader. War disrupted Mitterrand's youthful ambitions. He joined the infantry, and as France fell to the Germans, he was wounded. He became a prisoner of war and at his third attempt managed to escape. Back in France, Mitterrand worked at first for Marshal Petain's pro-Nazi Vichy government. Later, he downplayed his ties with that regime and stressed his work for the Resistance.

FRANCOIS MITTERRAND: (speaking through interpreter) I started my political life in the Resistance. It was there that I had my first responsibility.

PETER MORGAN: But a recently discovered photograph showing Mitterrand with Marshal Petain suggested a more uncomfortable truth. Mitterrand continued to lead a political double life, cultivating the extreme right and the extreme left to further his career. Soon after the liberation, Mitterrand joined the government as its youngest minister, but when DeGaulle returned to power in 1958, Mitterrand left the government. In political exile, the former conservative discovered Socialism. DeGaulle always ridiculed the conversion. Others, though, sense that Mitterrand was thinking ahead.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/remember/mitterrand_1-8b.html

[autorank]

9. Well, thanks for that. Now it makes sense.

[zwielicht]

10. Sabotage!? Mitterand authorised Rainbow Warrior BOMBING!

http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/newsdetail1.asp?storyID=76097