DIARY UPDATE FROM THE CREW OF THE RAINBOW WARRIOR:

MONDAY 19TH JUNE

Best weather we've seen yet on our voyage. That makes everyone in the crew happy since it means we can sleep through the night without being tosses from our bunks and that food can be prepared without the prospect of flying fruits, vegetables and, worst of all, soup.

78KB GIF or 24KB JPG. ©Greenpeace/Morgan

We have become very concerned about reports from the USA that President Clinton is not only under pressure from the Defense Department and the Pentagon to resume underground nuclear tests in Nevada, but that he is actually considering it! With the Cold War over and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty ink still wet (which formally agreed to pursue a ban on all nuclear testing as swiftly as possible and to use "utmost restraint" until it is established), this is an unbelievable outrage. Greenpeace in the US is now being forced to think, all over again, about how to put a stop to any nuclear test plans!

An op-ed in the Washington Post by Mary McGrory on Chirac's visit to DC reads:

"LAST WEEK'S White House visitor, Jacques Chirac, prime minister of France, looks like the droll Danish pianist Victor Borge: same diagonal eyebrows, same mobile face. But Chirac brought no laughter in his portfolio, only the discouraging news that France will break the nuclear moratorium and start testing again.... Irate Down-Underers, listening to French insistence that the tests will do no harm, ask why, if that is so, they don't test them in Bordeaux. .....[Cinton] is under similar pressure [to that by French military and nuclear proponents] from the same people to open up a loophole in the test ban. They want him to allow for testing of small weapons, low-level testing of bombs of 200 to 500 tons. These are so-called "useful" nukes, which have a small yield and can be delivered precisely, as to the bunker of Saddam Hussein....It was a poor week for arms control. Those [nuclear proponents in the US] who once thought we could never have enough nuclear weapons are now passionately committed to the proposition that we can never be done testing them. They're shouting "Vive la France," but nobody else is."

Some good news. Today we heard from the Australian Greenpeace office that 500 protesters attempted to storm the French Embassy in Canberra! It must have been a beautiful site. Clearly the French announcement to begin testing again has hit a nerve in the Pacific region and we applaud their efforts! Also, we've learned that the Social Democratic parties of four Nordic countries -- Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden -- agreed Sunday to make a joint protest against French testing decision. The protest will be published later this week. The Social Democrats are in power in three of these four countries! And, perhaps the most remarkable, the Flemish daily newspaper De Morgen published a remarkable editorial last Saturday showing two pictures of French President Chirac. On the left one, above the text "Chirac resumes nuclear testing" he looks normal. The picture on the right, however, shows a picture of Chirac as a radiation victim, without hair and with his face pocked and pimpled. The text under this photo says: "We wish him all the best". This "oped" was signed by the editorial staff of De Morgen, with the words: "As an independent newspaper we have to give signals. Sometimes even alarm signals. De Morgen". This is a great inspiration to all of us on the Rainbow Warrior.

87KB GIF or 29KB JPG. ©Greenpeace/Morgan More as we continue our travels.