US/Assassinations since 1945

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Countries where the US has assassinated or attempted to assassinate a movement leader

The US has made more than 50 attempts to assassinate political party leaders according to William Blum in "Killing Hope: U.S. Military and C.I.A. Interventions since World War II", 2003. Noam Chomsky called this book "Far and away the best book on the topic.". Former CIA officer John Stockwell called the same book "The single most useful summary of CIA history."

All such operations are illegal and almost all such killings are aimed at geopolitical objectives. In almost no cases can any clear humanitarian benefit be identified, even if the target is/was indeed tyrannical.

While bombings with aircraft leave evidence in many cases, covert operations may be difficult to prove.

Date Country Details Disputed?
2011 Category:Pakistan Osama Bin Laden. Killing of a captured man. Maybe
2003 Category:Iraq Saddam Hussein and his two sons. Two killings and a semi-judicial execution. Maybe
2002 Category:Afghanistan Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, Islamic leader and warlord Maybe
2001 Category:Afghanistan Invasion of Afghanistan, followed by an unsuccessful attempt to catch Osama bin Laden in the mountains of Tora Bora. No
1998 Category:Afghanistan Osama bin Laden, leading Islamic militant. Cruise missiles followed by a full-scale invasion. Maybe
1993 Category:Somalia Mohamed Farah Aideed, prominent clan leader. Failed attempt but he died later. Maybe
1991 Category:Iraq Saddam Hussein, leader. Attempt to kill him? Maybe
1985 Category:Lebanon Sheikh Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah, Shiite leader (80 people killed in the attempt) Maybe
1984 Category:Nicaragua The nine comandantes of the Sandinista National Directorate Maybe
1983 Category:Nicaragua Miguel d'Escoto, Foreign Minister Maybe
1983 Category:Morocco Gen. Ahmed Dlimi, Army commander Maybe
1982 Category:Iran Ayatollah Khomeini, leader Maybe
1980-
1986
Category:Libya Muammar Qaddafi, leader, several plots and attempts upon his life Maybe
1976 Category:Jamaica Michael Manley, Prime Minister Maybe
1976 Category:Chile exiled Chilean Foreign Minister Orlando Letelier is blown up in Washington DC, part of Operation Condor with at least tacit US support ?
1975 Category:Zaire Mobutu Sese Seko, President. Maybe
1972 Category:Panama General Manuel Noriega, Chief of Intelligence. Captured alive and been imprisoned ever since. Maybe
1970s,
1981
Category:Panama General Omar Torrijos, leader Maybe
1970 Category:Chile Gen. Rene Schneider, Commander-in-Chief of Army. Maybe
1970 Category:Chile Salvador Allende, President unsuccesful US supported coup "Project FUBELT" No
1967 Category:Bolivia Che Guevara, revolutionary leader. CIA-organized military operation ends in capture and execution by the Bolivian Army. Maybe
1965 -
1956
Category:France Charles de Gaulle, President Maybe
1965 Category:Dominican Republic Francisco Caamaño, opposition leader Maybe
1965 Category:Zaire President overthrown and replaced by Mobutu, see entry for 1961, deposing of Lumumbu. No
1960s Category:Cuba Raúl Castro, high official in government Maybe
1960s -
1970s
Category:Cuba Fidel Castro, President, many attempts on his life including poisoned cigars. Maybe
1963 Category:South Vietnam Ngo Dinh Diem, President. Successful attempt to replace one puppet leader with another. Maybe
1963 Category:Iraq The CIA supports the Ba'athists, including Saddam Hussein, in a coup in Iraq against the Qassim government.[1][2][3] No [4]
1961 Category:Dominican Republic Gen. Rafael Trujillo, dictator since 1930 shot dead in 1961.[5][6] Yes
1961 Category:Zaire In June 1960, Patrice Lumumba became the Congo's first prime minister after independence from Belgium. Calls for the nation's economic liberation and is branded a communist. Eleven days later, the mineral rich Katanga province, owned by Belgium and prominent Eisenhower administration officials, seceedes. Lumumba dismissed in September at the instigation of the United States, and in Jan 1961 assassinated at the express request of Dwight Eisenhower. Several years of civil conflict and chaos end in the CIA backed deposing of President Joseph Kasavubu and the 1965 accession to power of the CIA linked Mobutu Sese Seko. Mobutu ruled and robbed the country for more than 30 years (a "kleptocracy") while the Zairian people lived in abject poverty. No
1961 Category:Haiti Francois "Papa Doc" Duvalier, leader Maybe
1950s-
1970s
Category:Costa Rica José Figueres, President, two attempts on his life Maybe
1960 Category:Iraq Brig. Gen. Abdul Karim Kassem, leader Maybe
1959 Category:Cambodia Norodom Sihanouk, leader. And again, 1963, 1969. Maybe
1957 Category:Egypt Gamal Abdul Nasser, President Maybe
1955 Category:India Jawaharlal Nehru, Prime Minister Maybe
1951 Category:Iran Mohammed Mossadegh, Prime Minister Maybe
1951 Category:North Korea Kim Il Sung, Premier Maybe
1950s (mid) Category:Philippines Claro M. Recto, opposition leader Maybe
1950s, 1962 Category:Indonesia Sukarno, President Maybe
1950s Category:China Prime minister Chou En-lai, several attempts on his life Maybe
1950s Category:Germany 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 Maybe
1949 Category:Korea Kim Koo, opposition leader No

Recent Developments

The CIA has long had a policy of assassinating individuals for a mixture of reasons. Increasingly, attacks are being made on individuals or leaders of quite small groups designated "terrorists". Since 2011 there have been killings of nuclear technicians in Iran. Drones are proving increasingly effective at killing targets, and are even being programmed to make autonomous decisions about whom to kill.

References

  1. A Tyrant 40 Years in the Making New York Times March 14 2003.
  2. The Old Social Classes and the Revolutionary Movements of Iraq Princeton University Press. 1978.
  3. Iraq Since 1958 Peter and Marion Sluglett. 1990.
  4. Regarding the CIA's "Health Alteration Committee's work in Iraq, see U.S. Senate's Church Committee Interim Report on Assassination, page 181, Note 1.
  5. Report: Alleged Assassination Plots Involving Foreign Leaders History Matters website.
  6. Church Committee Report - Trujillo