1985. THE RAINBOW WARRIOR

Whatever it takes

An episode from the series HISTORY GREATEST LIES

Synopsis

March 1985, the Rainbow Warrior, the flagship of the Greenpeace fleet, is docked in Auckland, New Zealand. The environmentalists are organizing a large-scale act of protest in order to put a stop to French nuclear testing in Polynesia.

On July 10, 1985, a dozen French secret agents stationed in New Zealand launch a failed operation to sink the boat.

The scandal is huge, "an act of state-backed terrorism, an act of war", declares the New Zealand minister, Geoffrey Palmer. French President Mitterrand, who had known about the operation from the very beginning, attempts to defuse the crisis. An extensive and pernicious campaign kicks off.