The French, for their part, are almost compulsive exponents of dirty tricks. The bombing of the Rainbow Warrior in Auckland harbour and the killing of a member of the anti-nuclear group Greenpeace in the process was just an example where they were caught. The former head of the French secret service has revealed that they carried out about fifty successful operations in the Pacific between 1970 and 1981, including the mechanical sabotage of vessels seeking to monitor French nuclear test at Mururoa.

Brian Toohey and William Pinwill, Oyster