Yesterday I was reading Le Parisien's special on Ségolène Royal. There was an interview with one of her brothers, Antoine, who runs a sawmill in the south of France. "Hey, listen to this!" I said as I read. "Ségolène Royal's brother was
one of the French secret service guys who blew up the Rainbow Warrior!"
Antoine said in the interview that their brother Gérard had told him that he had actually put the bomb (posé la bombe) on board .
For those of you too young to remember, the Rainbow Warrior was a Greenpeace ship that had gone to New Zealand in 1985 to protest French nuclear testing in the South Pacific. The explosion sank the ship and one of the crew died. Later the French secret service people who were imprisoned for it in New Zealand were given the Legion of Honor.
My family showed a typical lack of interest in this startling admission, but to my surprise Antoine has gotten his sister into hot water and the Parisien interview is big news-- especially in New Zealand, of course. Ségolène Royal came out swinging, attacking the media for publishing this kind of thing during an election campaign "without verifying it." As for her brother, she could not answer any questions about him and suggested reporters talk to the Defense Department.
Hey, one of my uncles was a pilot in the Korean War and used to fly a nuclear bomb around. But don't quote me.
Update: The plot thickens! It turns out that in 1985, when Mitterrand gave orders for the Rainbow Warrior to be exploded, Ségolène Royal was working as conseillère technique au secrétariat général de la présidence de la République, i.e. working with Mitterrand.
And you're not running for President, are you?
But seriously, do voters really read? Will they care? Is it true? I guess we'll find out soon. Let's just hope the Royal Sego ain't too much like her bro.
Posted by: nardac | 02 October 2006 at 01:53
As I recall, she has so many brothers that statistically one of them would almost have to have been involved.
From Sedulia: Hm. I'm from a big family myself but you don't actually lose track of them.
Posted by: ZF | 02 October 2006 at 05:53
I was in Auckland when the Rainbow Warrior was bombed. It wasn't just that a ship was sunk - there was also a person aboard it who was murdered by the act of terorrism as well. It was the only act of terrorism or war in New Zealand in the whole twentieth century, so you can see why it is a big deal there.
What Segolene DIDN'T say was interesting: in that Le Parisien interview she expressed pride in her brother as a soldier and she didn't express any sadness for the murdered photographer or regret at the irresponsibility of an act of war against a friendly nation.
That tells an awful lot about her fitness for office - that she lacks human compassion and lacks judgement in handling international affairs.
Having said that, one of her rivals - Laurent Fabius - was the prime minister at the time. He may not have known about the attack in advance but her helped to cover it up afterwards.
Jaques Chirac praised the bombing, so none of them emerge with credit.
Posted by: John | 03 October 2006 at 13:30