French Agent Breaks Silence on Bombing Greenpeace’s Rainbow Warrior in 1985
The “Satanic Operation”: When a Western Democracy Turned to State Terrorism
By Adaptation-Guide – Unfiltered History Series: Lessons from Collapse
July 10, 1985, 11:38 PM – Auckland Harbor:
A thunderous blast shatters the night. The French government, under Socialist President François Mitterrand, has just detonated a bomb on a peaceful Greenpeace ship.
This was not an accident, nor a rogue action. This was a calculated act of state-sponsored terrorism—a “black op” carried out by French military intelligence.
The target? The Rainbow Warrior, a Greenpeace vessel preparing to protest nuclear testing in the South Pacific.
The goal? Silence dissent.
Forty years later, it remains one of the most chilling examples of democratic governments crossing the line from governance into covert warfare against civilians.
The Crime Scene: A Ship, a Bomb, a Dead Man
The Rainbow Warrior had been docked in Auckland, New Zealand, on a peaceful mission: to support Pacific Islanders suffering from the effects of U.S. and French nuclear tests.
Inside the ship, some crew members were celebrating with local Greenpeace activists. Others were asleep.
Suddenly, a blast ripped open a hole in the hull—big enough to drive a car through. Captain Peter Willcox shouted, “Abandon ship!” All obeyed—except one.
Photographer Fernando Pereira, a father of two, went back to retrieve his expensive camera gear.
Moments later, a second explosion sealed his fate. He drowned in the bowels of the ship. He was 35.
The Mission: Protest the Poisoning of the Pacific
The Rainbow Warrior had left Jacksonville, Florida, in March 1985. Its route was set: first, the Marshall Islands—specifically the radioactive atoll of Rongelap, contaminated by 67 U.S. nuclear tests from 1946 to 1958.
The people of Rongelap had been pleading for evacuation for years. Greenpeace answered the call.
Next on the route was Mururoa Atoll, site of ongoing French nuclear tests.
Greenpeace intended to document and protest. But long before the ship reached its destination, French military ears were already twitching.
French Admiral Henri Fages alerted his chain of command. The message reached Pierre Lacoste, head of France’s external intelligence agency (DGSE), and eventually landed on the desk of Defense Minister Charles Hernu.
The order was given: Neutralize the ship.
Opération Satanique: A Black Op by a Western Ally
France’s DGSE dubbed the mission Opération Satanique. The irony is grotesque. Under the pretense of national security, an elite diving team was flown into New Zealand.
Explosives and equipment were smuggled in via a chartered yacht from French New Caledonia.
A spy, Christine Cabon, using the fake name “Frédérique Bonlieu,” infiltrated the Greenpeace office in Auckland. She fed intelligence back to Paris.
On July 10, two agents attached mines to the Rainbow Warrior’s propeller shaft and engine room. Then they fled into the night.
The first explosion wounded the ship. The second killed Fernando Pereira.
The Swiss Passport Scandal and French Denials
New Zealand launched one of the most intensive investigations in its history.
Witnesses had spotted two suspicious men unloading gear from a dinghy into a van. The license plate led police to “Swiss tourists” Alain and Sophie Turenge.
But their passports were fake. In truth, they were French military officers: Captain Dominique Prieur and Major Alain Mafart.
France initially denied involvement. DGSE headquarters destroyed all evidence of the operation. But there were too many fingerprints in the water.
In September 1985, French Prime Minister Laurent Fabius finally confessed:
“Agents of our secret service sank this ship. They acted on orders.”
President Mitterrand? He remained untouchable—for a time.
Justice? Or Diplomacy at Gunpoint?
In November 1985, a New Zealand court sentenced Prieur and Mafart to 10 years in prison for manslaughter and arson. The trial lasted only 34 minutes.
Why? Because France had threatened trade sanctions, including a European-wide ban on New Zealand lamb and butter.
Behind closed doors, a diplomatic deal was struck via the United Nations.
By July 1986, the agents were released to serve their “sentences” on a French military base on Hao Atoll in the Pacific. The sentences were later cut to just three years.
Neither agent stayed put. Mafart was flown to Paris for “urgent medical treatment” in 1987—and never returned. Prieur was declared pregnant and quietly repatriated.
Both were later promoted and decorated with medals.
No one else was ever prosecuted.
No commanding officer was punished.
The leader of the operation? He rose to become a senior defense advisor by 1993.
Truth Leaks Through the Cracks
In 2005, Pierre Lacoste admitted what had long been denied:
“Yes, President Mitterrand was informed.”
A declassified intelligence report confirmed it.
France’s head of state had personally authorized a military operation on the territory of an allied democracy, killing a civilian and sabotaging a peaceful protest.
Greenpeace received $8 million in compensation.
New Zealand got a similar payout.
The Pereira family received around €300,000—roughly what France paid for traffic death settlements.
But the French government only apologized to New Zealand.
Not to Greenpeace.
Not to Pereira’s widow.
Not to history.
The Wreck and the Warning
Today, the Rainbow Warrior rests 30 meters deep off the coast of New Zealand, now a reef teeming with marine life. But its story is a cautionary tale that should haunt every democracy.
When national leaders authorize covert acts of sabotage on foreign soil...
When governments murder to silence protest…
When spies are rewarded and whistleblowers are jailed…
Then democracy has ceased to be a shield. It has become a weapon.
This is not just a scandal of the past. It is a warning for every activist, journalist, and dissenter today.
From assassinations of exiles to spyware planted on journalists’ phones, state overreach is alive and operational.
If a “democracy” like France could bomb a peace ship in 1985 and get away with it—what makes you think it couldn’t happen again?
🌍 Never Forget. Always Question.
🖊️ Want to learn more about state sabotage, eco-resistance, and survival in a collapsing world?
Follow our blog at adaptationguide.com
📘 *Recommended reading:
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“Eyes of Fire: The Last Voyage of the Rainbow Warrior” – David Robie
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“The Rainbow Warrior Affair” – New Zealand Government Dossier*
🛑 If you think Western democracies are immune to terror tactics—think again.
cheers,
Adaptation-Guide
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