Assassination as a tool of war?

[Dragonlord]

Prompted by a remark in another thread, I got to thinking about how, at least in modern Western history, wars are always fought by soldiers, with civilian casualties increasingly accepted as 'collateral damage' - but no one ever seems to deliberately target the opposing government.

The most striking example is how, AFAIK, the Allies never tried to assassinate Hitler.
Does anyone know an example to the contrary?
The only example I know of where the Allies actually tried to eliminate any of the Nazi leadership was the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich in Prague, by 2 exiled Czechs with British help, which was, BTW, amateurish beyond belief.

Nor did Hitler try to have Churchill killed, even though he was the kingpin of British resistance (The Eagle has landed notwithstanding - it's fiction ).

Furthermore, I can't think of a single example of an attempted assassination of a government member by agents of another government in modern history - say, since the Napoleonic Wars.
Plenty of assassinations and attempts by single loonies, of course, and some by terrorist organisations (Crown Prince Ferdinand in Sarajevo, for example), but none by government agents.

As far as I can see, there seems to be a kind of 'gentleman's agreement' not to target the enemies' leadership... "that's just not done" kind of thing. No politician wants to open that Pandora's Box, for fear of being personally put at risk.

Personally, I think that is just... wrong. If politicians are willing to send young men (and, nowadays, women) to war and risk of their lives, they themselves should be at equal risk.

What do you think?

Also, does anyone have examples of modern European/American history where the enemy leadership was deliberately and specifically targetted?

Oops, just thought of one myself: the US tried to take out Saddam by air attack on a hotel, I believe

So, still very rare...

Why not just send a sniper with a long gun? One shot, problem ended...

 

[Yeekim]

Also, does anyone have examples of modern European/American history where the enemy leadership was deliberately and specifically targetted?

Probably does not count as European but Johhar Dudayev came to mind.

 

[Masada]

The most striking example is how, AFAIK, the Allies never tried to assassinate Hitler.

They had plans to do it. But by the time they had them in place he was considered to be a net liability to the Axis and was thus left alive.

 

[Dragonlord]

Probably does not count as European but Johhar Dudayev came to mind.

Had to look him up - rebel Chechen leader killed in 1996 by a Russian rocket attack, correct?

Ah, but he wouldn't have counted as a member of a government, at least from the Russian POV, would he?
The US also shows no reluctance to target Al-Qaida leaders, but then, they don't recognize Al-Qaida as a government, do they?

No one, including the US, ever seems to send in a sniper, though. Air attacks, yes, that seems sufficiently hands-off, but no straightforward assassinations.

 

[Dragonlord]

They had plans to do it. But by the time they had them in place he was considered to be a net liability to the Axis and was thus left alive.

Really? Do you have a source or some details for that? What were the plans?

Seems strange to me, as Germany would probably have surrendered earlier if Hitler had been killed - that was the reason for the July 20th attempt, after all: the Generals wanted to make peace.

 

[Masada]

Operation Foxley.

 

[Dragonlord]

Operation Foxley.

How very interesting! Thanks for the link! Never heard of this before.

Seems they had a good enough plan, but dithered so long that the opportunity passed.
Though, if the dates in the article are correct, there really wasn't any opportunity. It says the proposal was in Nov 44, and Hitler visited the Berghof for the last time in July 44. That makes it all kind of theoretical. Might be a mistake though, and the proposal was in Nov 43 - that would fit better.

In any case the analysts in the article agree with me that millions of lives could have been saved if Hitler had been assassinated in July 44 or thereabouts. Even earlier would have been even better.

Nice to see that someone actually tried, though it was all kind of half-hearted, it seems.

 

[ParkCungHee]

There was Yamamoto. I mean officially they were just shooting his plan, but nobody buys that.

 

[Heraclius49]

There are many occasions of assassinations in (somewhat) recent years.

During the Vietnam War US Navy SEALs were involved in the Phoenix program. They targeted many leaders of the Vietcong and the NVA. I think that a large number were killed in this fashion.

Eisenhower sanctioned two assassinations. One and Communist dictator in Guatemala; the other was the assassination of someone in Iran(I think the Shah).

Mossad has participated in multiple assassinations, mostly concerning former Nazis. One notable exception was the assassination of members of the Black September Terrorist Group after they killed a few Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympic games.

During the Clinton Administration, many special operations forces from various countries were working together to capture war criminals in Eastern Europe (I think). Although their job was to capture the criminals, many resisted and were killed. This is technically an assassination.

Some allege that Delta Force killed the notable Drug lord Pablo Escobar in Colombia. (I forget the Year)

George Bush had official sanctioned the assassination of members of Al Queda.

 

[Dreadnought]

Eisenhower sanctioned two assassinations. One and Communist dictator in Guatemala; the other was the assassination of someone in Iran(I think the Shah).

Didn't the US prefer to keep the Shah in power?

Also, Operation Condor saw quite a few assassinations in South America, though they were initiated by Latin American nations as opposed to European ones.

 

[Heraclius49]

Didn't the US prefer to keep the Shah in power?

Sorry, I knew the Shah was involved just not if he was the one assassinated. Who was it that was assassinated anyway?

 

[Masada]

Its comparatively rare for the obvious reasons that if you sanction a hit: someone could sanction one back on you.

In any case the analysts in the article agree with me that millions of lives could have been saved if Hitler had been assassinated in July 44 or thereabouts. Even earlier would have been even better.

A still militarized Germany wasn't an acceptable end-game to anyone. The Soviets would still have had good cause to continue.

 

[Dragonlord]

There was Yamamoto. I mean officially they were just shooting his plan, but nobody buys that.

But he was military, not government.

There are many occasions of assassinations in (somewhat) recent years.

During the Vietnam War US Navy SEALs were involved in the Phoenix program. They targeted many leaders of the Vietcong and the NVA. I think that a large number were killed in this fashion.

Eisenhower sanctioned two assassinations. One and Communist dictator in Guatemala; the other was the assassination of someone in Iran(I think the Shah).

Mossad has participated in multiple assassinations, mostly concerning former Nazis. One notable exception was the assassination of members of the Black September Terrorist Group after they killed a few Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympic games.

During the Clinton Administration, many special operations forces from various countries were working together to capture war criminals in Eastern Europe (I think). Although their job was to capture the criminals, many resisted and were killed. This is technically an assassination.

Some allege that Delta Force killed the notable Drug lord Pablo Escobar in Colombia. (I forget the Year)

George Bush had official sanctioned the assassination of members of Al Queda.

All but the Guatemalan dictator (source?) non-government types. There is no question there have been many assassinations of irregular/guerrilla leaders, just as Al-Quaida is targetted nowadays.

Its comparatively rare for the obvious reasons that if you sanction a hit: someone could sanction one back on you.

Exactly.

 

[say1988]

Not during war, but I believe the US government (or parts of it) did authorize attempts on Castro's life.

 

[Cheezy the Wiz]

Sorry, I knew the Shah was involved just not if he was the one assassinated. Who was it that was assassinated anyway?

I'm almost certain you mean Mossadeq.

 

[Smellincoffee]

Didn't Hitler have plans to hit the 'big three' at Tehran?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Long_Jump

 

[holy king]

the cia also had allende killed.

 

[Lord Baal]

The CIA assisted the Bolivians in killing Che Guevara. I believe he was still technically a member of the Cuban government at the time.

There's also the alleged plot by Hitler to kidnap and/or kill the King of Italy and the Pope after Italy switched sides in WWII. I doubt its veracity though. Then there are the theories about the CIA and KGB being involved in the assassination of John Paul I and the attempted assassination of John Paul II.

Mossadeq in Iran is the obvious one that damges your theory somewhat. There were also several attempts either by the US or with their support to assassinate Fidel Castro. JFK sanctioned the assassination of North Vietnamese military and government leaders, a policy continued after his death. The most blatant political assassination ever conducted by America was when the President of South Vietnam, an American ally, was ordered assassinated by JFK so a more favourable candidate could take power.

On the whole, political leaders are unwilling to assassinate foreign leaders even in wartime, and undoubtedly part of this is fear that they will become a target themselves. But I think there's likely a greater fear of being charged with war crimes or murder; assassination is illegal, which is why most of the modern attempts involve air strikes rather than snipers or some other means. Then there's the simple fact that in a lot of cases simply assassinating a political figure won't actually affect the war effort; generals are more than capable of fighting on with their President murdered, and it may very well make the common folk fight harder.

 

[Cheezy the Wiz]

The CIA assisted the Bolivians in killing Che Guevara. I believe he was still technically a member of the Cuban government at the time.

I doubt it, as he hadn't been in Cuba for years, and had surrendered all his offices before leaving for Africa, much less his South American adventures. The Cubans outfitted him with equipment and such, but he was not part of their government, no.

 

[Lord Baal]

I doubt it, as he hadn't been in Cuba for years, and had surrendered all his offices before leaving for Africa, much less his South American adventures. The Cubans outfitted him with equipment and such, but he was not part of their government, no.

I stand corrected.