I THINK WE SHOULD SUPPORT THIS BLOW AGAINST IMPERIALISM:

One of France’s farthest-flung and most exotic colonial possessions, French Polynesia, elected its first pro-independence leader yesterday in a blow to the government in Paris. . . .

France annexed the archipelago, a collection of 118 islands and atolls scattered over an area the size of Europe, in the 19th century.

Mr Temaru’s election marks the end of a 20-year reign by his conservative predecessor Gaston Flosse, 72, a friend of Mr Chirac and staunch opponent of independence. . . .

France is likely to oppose any move towards independence. Thousands of French troops and civil servants are based on Tahiti.

“French Polynesia is part of France’s aspirations to have a presence in every ocean and any loss of territory would have an impact on their status as a power with global reach,” said Mr Maclellan. “The territory also has a huge exclusive economic zone, with rights to fishing and sea bed minerals.”

People are calling it a “political earthquake” in the region.

UPDATE: Tucker Goodrich emails:

Support the Tahitian Freedom Fighters!

Think we’ll see that soon?

On bumperstickers everywhere. . . .

ANOTHER UPDATE: More thoughts on the Free Tahiti Movement.

I think I should go there and investigate. InstaPundit needs more firsthand reporting!

YET ANOTHER UPDATE: More people are calling for a task force on this important issue.

MORE: The outrage is snowballing!