Assassinations I don want to wipe out everyone.... Just my enemies. Michael Corleone,
"The Godfather, Part II"
In June 26, 1993, President William Clinton went before the American people and announced that the United States had fired several missiles against Iraq that day. It turned out that the missiles killed 8 people and injured many more. The attack, said the president, was in retaliation for an Iraqi plot to assassinate former president George Bush who was due to visit Kuwait. (This alleged plot remains no more than that...alleged. l) Clinton announced that the US attack "was essential to send a message to those who engage in state-sponsored terrorism and to affirm the expectation of civilized behavior among nations. "2 Following is a list of prominent foreign individuals whose assassination (or planning for same) the United States has been involved in since the end of the Second World War. (CIA humorists
Following is a list of prominent foreign individuals whose assassination (or planning for same) the United States has been involved in since the end ofthe Second World War. (CIAhumorists have at times referred to this type of operation as "suicide involuntarily administered", to be carried out by the Agency's "Health Alteration Committee".) 1949 1950s 1950s Kim Koo, Korean opposition leader CIA/Neo-Nazi hit list of more than 200 political figures in West Germany to be "put out of the way" in the event of a Soviet invasion Zhou Enlai, Prime minister of China, several attempts on his life 1950s, 1962 Sukarno, President of Indonesia 1951 Kim II Sung, Premier of North Korea
1953 1950s (mid) 1955 1957 1959/63/69 1960 1950s-70s 1961 1961 1961 1963 1960s-70s 1960s 1965 Mohammed Mossadegh, Prime Minister of Iran Claro M. Recto, Philippines opposition leader Jawaharlal Nehru, Prime Minister of India Gamal Abdul Nasser, President of Egypt Norodom Sihanouk, leader of Cambodia Brig. Gen. Abdul Karim Kassem, leader of Iraq José Figueres, President of Costa Rica, two attempts on his life Francois "Papa Doc" Duvalier, leader of Haiti Patrice Lumumba, Prime Minister of the Congo Gen. Rafael Trujillo, leader of Dominican Republic Ngo Dinh Diem, President of South Vietnam Fidel Castro, President of Cuba, many attempts and plots on his life Raül Castro, high omcial in government of Cuba Francisco Caamaio, Dominican Republic opposition
1967 1970 1970 Che Guevara, Cuban leader Salvador Allende, President of Chile Gen. Rene Schneider, Commander-in-Chief of Army, Chile 1970s, 1981 General Omar Torrijos, leader of Panama 1972 1975 General Manuel Noriega, Chief of Panama Intelligence Mobutu Sese Seko, President of Zaire
1976 1980-1986 1982 1983 1983 1984 1985 1991 1993 1998, 1999 2002 Michael Manley, Prime Minister of Jamaica Moammar Qaddafi, leader of Libya, several plots and attempts upon his life Ayatollah Khomeini, leader of Iran Gen. Ahmed Dlimi, Moroccan Army commander Miguel d'Escoto, Foreign Minister of Nicaragua The nine comandantes of the National Directorate of Nicaragua Sheikh Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah, Lebanese Shiite leader Saddam Hussein, leader of Iraq Mohamed Farah Aideed, prominent clan leader of Somalia 2001-2 Osama bin Laden, leading Islamic militant Slobodan Milosevic, President of Yugoslavia Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, Afghan Islamic leader and warlord
2002 2003 Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, Afghan Islamic leader and warlord Saddam Hussein and his two sons, Qusay and Uday, and his half-brother, Barzan Ibrahim Hassan al- Tikriti; all had been senior government offcials In case they run short of assassins In 1975, a US Navy psychologist, Lt. Com. Thomas Narut, revealed that his naval work included establishing how to induce servicemen who may not be naturally inclined to kill, to do so under certain conditions. He referred to these men using the words "hitmen" and "assassin". Narut added that convicted murderers as well had been released from military prisons to become assassins.
The training of the carefully-selected recruits ranged from dehumanization of the enemy, to acclimating them emotionally through special films showing people being killed and injured in violent ways.3 The disclosure by Narut was pure happenstance. We can only speculate about what programs are taking place or being planned today in that five-sided building in Virginia. Blasphemy American style The Western world was shocked when Iran condemned British author Salmon Rushdie to death in 1989 because of one of his books, which the ayatollahs called 'blasphemous". But the United States has also condemned blasphemers to death—Castro, Allende, Sukarno and a host of others mentioned above who didn't believe in the holy objectives of American foreign policy. Aberrations? The senate committee known as the Church committee, in its Assassination Report in 1975, said: "The committee does not believe that the acts of assassination which it has examined
Assassination Report in 1975, said: "The committee does not believe that the acts [of assassination] which it has examined represent the real American character. They do not reflect the ideals which have given the people of this country and the world hope for a better, fuller, fairer life. We regard the assassination plots as aberrations.' '4 At the time the committee wrote this, it knew of about a dozen CIA assassination plots and still could call them all aberrations. Would members of Congress today, knowing of the more than 50 incidents listed above, call them all aberrations? Could they explain how these "aberrations" have continued through each of the eleven presidencies, from Truman through George W. Bush? For some years following the Church committee's report,
American presidents made it a point to issue public statements on assassination, perhaps toing to convince the world that "We don't really mean it". 1976: Gerald Ford signed a presidential order which stated: "No employee of the United States shall engage in, or conspire to engage in, political assassination." 1978: Jimmy Carter also issued an executive order prohibiting assassinations. 1981, Dec. 4: Ronald Reagan issued an executive order with language almost identical to that of Ford's. But on Nov. 13, 1984, Reagan, consumed with fighting the "International Communist Conspiracy" on several fronts, canceled his executive order, creating what was actually called by the press, a "license to license to kill anyone deemed a 'terrorist". On April 10, 1985, Reagan canceled the "license to kill" because the previous month, the CIA had paid some people in Beirut to kill a certain sheikh Fadlallah, who was not to Washington's liking; a car bomb had been used and 80 people were killed, the sheikh not being among their number. August 11, 1985: The "license to kill" was reinstated because of a hijacking of a TWA plane in June.
to kill a certain sheikh Fadlallah, who was not to Washington's liking; a car bomb had been used and 80 people were killed, the sheikh not being among their number. August 11 , 1985: The "license to kill" was reinstated because of a hijacking of a TWA plane in June. May 12, 1986: A new executive order was signed without the controversial language, apparently in deference to congressional objections.6 Oct. 13, 1989: George H. W. Bush added a new twist. He issued a "memorandum of law" that would allow "accidental" killing if it was a byproduct of legal action: "A decision by the President to employ overt military force...would not constitute assassination if U.S. forces were employed against the combatant forces of another nation, a guerrilla force, or a terrorist or other organization whose actions pose a threat to the security of the United States. "7 In a classified 1998 intelligence finding, President Clinton
authorized the CIA to use covert lethal force against Osama bin Laden and his deputies.8 Having declared after September II, 2001 that Osama bin Laden was wanted "dead or alive," President George W. Bush issued another intelligence finding, this one giving the CIA permission to use lethal force against a wider class of al-Qaeda personnel.9 Reagan and his successors have clearly not been acting out of any ethical or legal principle for or against assassination. It's all been realpolitik and public relations, and the actual American policy in the field over the years has never varied to speak of, whatever the "offcial" message of the day coming out of the White House was. The Doolittle Report A 1954 White House commission to study the CIA's covert activities included in its report the following now-famous passage, which is relevant to this discussion of assassination. It may be what psychologists call "projection". It is now clear that we are facing an implacable enemy
It is now clear that we are facing an implacable enemy whose avowed objective is world domination by whatever means and at whatever cost. There are no rules in such a game. Hitherto acceptable norms of human conduct do not apply. If the United States is to survive, long-standing American concepts of "fair play" must be reconsidered. We must develop effective espionage and counterespionage services and must learn to subvert, sabotage and destroy our enemies by more clever, more sophisticated, and more effective methods than those used against us. It may become necessary that the American people be made acquainted with, understand and support this fundamentally repugnant philosophy.
Does it work both ways? Ifthe United States could bomb Iraqi intelligence headquarters— which was their target in the bombing referred to above—because of an alleged assassination plot against an American leader, and cite self-defense under the UN charter as Washington did (a claim at least as questionable as the alleged plot), think of the opportunities opened to countries like Panama, Libya, and Cuba to name but a few. Cuba could claim the right to bomb CIA headquarters because of CIA attempts on the life of Fidel Castro. It's safe to say though, that neither the White House nor American courts would accept this legal argument; nor would they be able to see behind the Irony Curtain.
"The Godfather, Part II"
In June 26, 1993, President William Clinton went before the American people and announced that the United States had fired several missiles against Iraq that day. It turned out that the missiles killed 8 people and injured many more. The attack, said the president, was in retaliation for an Iraqi plot to assassinate former president George Bush who was due to visit Kuwait. (This alleged plot remains no more than that...alleged. l) Clinton announced that the US attack "was essential to send a message to those who engage in state-sponsored terrorism and to affirm the expectation of civilized behavior among nations. "2 Following is a list of prominent foreign individuals whose assassination (or planning for same) the United States has been involved in since the end of the Second World War. (CIA humorists
Following is a list of prominent foreign individuals whose assassination (or planning for same) the United States has been involved in since the end ofthe Second World War. (CIAhumorists have at times referred to this type of operation as "suicide involuntarily administered", to be carried out by the Agency's "Health Alteration Committee".) 1949 1950s 1950s Kim Koo, Korean opposition leader CIA/Neo-Nazi hit list of more than 200 political figures in West Germany to be "put out of the way" in the event of a Soviet invasion Zhou Enlai, Prime minister of China, several attempts on his life 1950s, 1962 Sukarno, President of Indonesia 1951 Kim II Sung, Premier of North Korea
1953 1950s (mid) 1955 1957 1959/63/69 1960 1950s-70s 1961 1961 1961 1963 1960s-70s 1960s 1965 Mohammed Mossadegh, Prime Minister of Iran Claro M. Recto, Philippines opposition leader Jawaharlal Nehru, Prime Minister of India Gamal Abdul Nasser, President of Egypt Norodom Sihanouk, leader of Cambodia Brig. Gen. Abdul Karim Kassem, leader of Iraq José Figueres, President of Costa Rica, two attempts on his life Francois "Papa Doc" Duvalier, leader of Haiti Patrice Lumumba, Prime Minister of the Congo Gen. Rafael Trujillo, leader of Dominican Republic Ngo Dinh Diem, President of South Vietnam Fidel Castro, President of Cuba, many attempts and plots on his life Raül Castro, high omcial in government of Cuba Francisco Caamaio, Dominican Republic opposition
1967 1970 1970 Che Guevara, Cuban leader Salvador Allende, President of Chile Gen. Rene Schneider, Commander-in-Chief of Army, Chile 1970s, 1981 General Omar Torrijos, leader of Panama 1972 1975 General Manuel Noriega, Chief of Panama Intelligence Mobutu Sese Seko, President of Zaire
1976 1980-1986 1982 1983 1983 1984 1985 1991 1993 1998, 1999 2002 Michael Manley, Prime Minister of Jamaica Moammar Qaddafi, leader of Libya, several plots and attempts upon his life Ayatollah Khomeini, leader of Iran Gen. Ahmed Dlimi, Moroccan Army commander Miguel d'Escoto, Foreign Minister of Nicaragua The nine comandantes of the National Directorate of Nicaragua Sheikh Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah, Lebanese Shiite leader Saddam Hussein, leader of Iraq Mohamed Farah Aideed, prominent clan leader of Somalia 2001-2 Osama bin Laden, leading Islamic militant Slobodan Milosevic, President of Yugoslavia Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, Afghan Islamic leader and warlord
2002 2003 Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, Afghan Islamic leader and warlord Saddam Hussein and his two sons, Qusay and Uday, and his half-brother, Barzan Ibrahim Hassan al- Tikriti; all had been senior government offcials In case they run short of assassins In 1975, a US Navy psychologist, Lt. Com. Thomas Narut, revealed that his naval work included establishing how to induce servicemen who may not be naturally inclined to kill, to do so under certain conditions. He referred to these men using the words "hitmen" and "assassin". Narut added that convicted murderers as well had been released from military prisons to become assassins.
The training of the carefully-selected recruits ranged from dehumanization of the enemy, to acclimating them emotionally through special films showing people being killed and injured in violent ways.3 The disclosure by Narut was pure happenstance. We can only speculate about what programs are taking place or being planned today in that five-sided building in Virginia. Blasphemy American style The Western world was shocked when Iran condemned British author Salmon Rushdie to death in 1989 because of one of his books, which the ayatollahs called 'blasphemous". But the United States has also condemned blasphemers to death—Castro, Allende, Sukarno and a host of others mentioned above who didn't believe in the holy objectives of American foreign policy. Aberrations? The senate committee known as the Church committee, in its Assassination Report in 1975, said: "The committee does not believe that the acts of assassination which it has examined
Assassination Report in 1975, said: "The committee does not believe that the acts [of assassination] which it has examined represent the real American character. They do not reflect the ideals which have given the people of this country and the world hope for a better, fuller, fairer life. We regard the assassination plots as aberrations.' '4 At the time the committee wrote this, it knew of about a dozen CIA assassination plots and still could call them all aberrations. Would members of Congress today, knowing of the more than 50 incidents listed above, call them all aberrations? Could they explain how these "aberrations" have continued through each of the eleven presidencies, from Truman through George W. Bush? For some years following the Church committee's report,
American presidents made it a point to issue public statements on assassination, perhaps toing to convince the world that "We don't really mean it". 1976: Gerald Ford signed a presidential order which stated: "No employee of the United States shall engage in, or conspire to engage in, political assassination." 1978: Jimmy Carter also issued an executive order prohibiting assassinations. 1981, Dec. 4: Ronald Reagan issued an executive order with language almost identical to that of Ford's. But on Nov. 13, 1984, Reagan, consumed with fighting the "International Communist Conspiracy" on several fronts, canceled his executive order, creating what was actually called by the press, a "license to license to kill anyone deemed a 'terrorist". On April 10, 1985, Reagan canceled the "license to kill" because the previous month, the CIA had paid some people in Beirut to kill a certain sheikh Fadlallah, who was not to Washington's liking; a car bomb had been used and 80 people were killed, the sheikh not being among their number. August 11, 1985: The "license to kill" was reinstated because of a hijacking of a TWA plane in June.
to kill a certain sheikh Fadlallah, who was not to Washington's liking; a car bomb had been used and 80 people were killed, the sheikh not being among their number. August 11 , 1985: The "license to kill" was reinstated because of a hijacking of a TWA plane in June. May 12, 1986: A new executive order was signed without the controversial language, apparently in deference to congressional objections.6 Oct. 13, 1989: George H. W. Bush added a new twist. He issued a "memorandum of law" that would allow "accidental" killing if it was a byproduct of legal action: "A decision by the President to employ overt military force...would not constitute assassination if U.S. forces were employed against the combatant forces of another nation, a guerrilla force, or a terrorist or other organization whose actions pose a threat to the security of the United States. "7 In a classified 1998 intelligence finding, President Clinton
authorized the CIA to use covert lethal force against Osama bin Laden and his deputies.8 Having declared after September II, 2001 that Osama bin Laden was wanted "dead or alive," President George W. Bush issued another intelligence finding, this one giving the CIA permission to use lethal force against a wider class of al-Qaeda personnel.9 Reagan and his successors have clearly not been acting out of any ethical or legal principle for or against assassination. It's all been realpolitik and public relations, and the actual American policy in the field over the years has never varied to speak of, whatever the "offcial" message of the day coming out of the White House was. The Doolittle Report A 1954 White House commission to study the CIA's covert activities included in its report the following now-famous passage, which is relevant to this discussion of assassination. It may be what psychologists call "projection". It is now clear that we are facing an implacable enemy
It is now clear that we are facing an implacable enemy whose avowed objective is world domination by whatever means and at whatever cost. There are no rules in such a game. Hitherto acceptable norms of human conduct do not apply. If the United States is to survive, long-standing American concepts of "fair play" must be reconsidered. We must develop effective espionage and counterespionage services and must learn to subvert, sabotage and destroy our enemies by more clever, more sophisticated, and more effective methods than those used against us. It may become necessary that the American people be made acquainted with, understand and support this fundamentally repugnant philosophy.
Does it work both ways? Ifthe United States could bomb Iraqi intelligence headquarters— which was their target in the bombing referred to above—because of an alleged assassination plot against an American leader, and cite self-defense under the UN charter as Washington did (a claim at least as questionable as the alleged plot), think of the opportunities opened to countries like Panama, Libya, and Cuba to name but a few. Cuba could claim the right to bomb CIA headquarters because of CIA attempts on the life of Fidel Castro. It's safe to say though, that neither the White House nor American courts would accept this legal argument; nor would they be able to see behind the Irony Curtain.
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