No Borders and Binaries

I found this recently:

And snooped online to actually understand what was going on during that time period. It turns out that the original Rainbow Warrior was sunk in a terrorist attack by the French Government in 1985 (the President admitted it only 20 years later) so this must have been a replacement that I visited. The original ship was at the forefront of protests against French nuclear testing at Moruroa, Tahiti and now serves as a popular dive destination at Matauri Bay in New Zealand. Maintained by the local Maori community, it has become part of the complex ecosystem that it once served to protect … Wonderful story?

It’s amazing to revisit some half-understood, half-remembered childhood memories at an age where we can better understand–thanks to the Internet–what was really happening at that time. All I knew at the age of 10 was that we were supposed to be protesting French nuclear testing in Tahiti and that grew to be a major reason for my dislike for the French government that continues to this day (No, I don’t boycott French Fries and French products).

I dug further and discovered an article in the Guardian pertaining to this. The French leader that had led the bombing of Rainbow Warrior in 1985 now resides in the United States and sells arms/weapons to the United States government agencies. It also notes that U.S. immigration laws are supposed to bar people with records of violence and terrorist activity from residing in the United States:

“The law is very clear: persons involved in acts of terrorism are not admitted into the United States,” said Kelly Klundt, a spokeswoman for the customs and border protection agency.

No, seems like the United States government is only interested in detaining and deporting hard-working immigrants. Why isn’t ICE detaining and deporting terrorists?

More on the history of the Rainbow Warrior from Greenpeace:

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