French: Warn of Nuclear Response to Terrorism

Sometimes you just wonder what the French are up to. Famous for their bread making skills (I like mine with garlic butter), they have not been famous in taking a hard stand against terrorism. This has lead many to want to change the name french fries to freedom fries.

But things change, Yahoo News is reporting this statement by President Jacques Chirac:

"The leaders of states who would use terrorist means against us, as well as those who would consider using in one way or another weapons of mass destruction, must understand that they would lay themselves open to a firm and adapted response on our part."

"This response could be a conventional one. It could also be of a different kind."

If you are wondering if this is just a response by a soft puppy that is careful about showing its teeth. I would like to take you back in a way back machine to how France responded to Green Peace, who they considered a terrorist organization of a different stripe.

It happened in New Zealand, on July tenth 1985. Out of a French spy organization came a plan called "Operation Satanic." The target was the Rainbow Warrior, flag ship of the Green Peace Navy, that was playing dodge ball with the French over nuclear tests near the remote Easter Island. The Mururoa islands were the site of the French nuclear tests and Green Peace would often send scuba divers to sit on the island to irk the French.

Previously, the French would just board the ship and beat the crap out to the protesters, but on July tenth 1985, things took a different turn.

This is how the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior happened according to wiki:

"Agents had boarded and carefully examined the ship while she was open to the public. Calculations aimed at explosions sufficient to cripple the ship, but precise and small enough not to take life. "

"Two limpet mines attached to the hull of the ship detonated 60 seconds apart, at around 11:45 PM. The ship sank in four minutes. "

"The agents failed to allow for the less drilled safety procedures on the non-military vessel. Some below decks did not evacuate the ship but returned below decks to salvage belongings and make a film record of events. "

"A Dutch photographer, Fernando Pereira, drowned in the flooding that followed the second blast while attempting to fetch his equipment. The other ten crew members evacuated on the order of Captain Peter Willcox, or were thrown into the water by the force of the explosion. "

Now this may not be akin to a full nuclear response on terrorists, but it is worthwhile in noting that when some have played softball with the French; it suddenly turned into a hardball event.

French President Jacques Chirac in his speech about nuclear policy additionally stated:

"Against a regional power, our choice would not be between inaction or annihilation."
"The flexibility and reactivity of our strategic forces would enable us to exercise our response directly against its centers of power and its capacity to act."

Iran and Algeria beware.