20.12.2019 Author: Vladimir Platov
USA and Political
Assassinations
Column: Politics
Region: USA in the
World
Politicians are people who
not only live in the public eye but also encounter disapproval because of their
decisions and actions. Hence, from time to time, the world is shaken by
front-page news about the death or tragic demise of yet another prominent
politician. It is also worth noting that an overwhelming majority of already
solved political assassinations is linked to the United States. And nowadays, such
a state of affairs is hardly surprising.
We can recall many famous
American national politicians, i.e. senators, congressmen, district
prosecutors, federal judges, governors and a director of the CIA, who were
either killed or found dead under suspicious circumstances after they had
raised issues of corruption or caused trouble for the leaders of the US
oligarchy. And this has been the case since the assassination of John F.
Kennedy in 1963.
Naming such victims clearly
shows that any prosecutors, judges or politicians can find themselves in mortal
danger when they go against the wishes of American political dynasties. Let us
take an example of United States District Judge John Roll, who was shot dead in
Tucson, Arizona, on 8 January 2011 soon after he had announced that he was
about to rule against Barack Obama’s administration. In order to appease the
public, a lone gunman and drug user was quickly identified as the culprit. He
then “confessed” to his crimes “never to be seen again”. Media outlets practically
“killed” this story. After all, its main aim was to intimidate all of the other
U.S. judges by proving to them that they could be mercilessly killed and not
many people would ever know the reason for their death.
There are other examples
from America’s modern history that lend further proof to this theory. For
instance, Thelma Colbert from the Justice Department (DOJ) in Fort Worth, Texas
and Shannon Ross, the criminal chief of the United States attorney’s office in
Dallas died under suspicious circumstances while investigating crimes linked to
the Bush family. The two supposedly “committed suicide” within weeks of each
other. Apparently, Thelma Colbert “drowned in her own pool” in July 2004 while
Shannon Ross was found dead in her home on 13 September 2004. And the case
against the Bush family was essentially “buried” with them. Any attempts by
U.S. media outlets to discuss the story also suffered the same fate.
The last 10 Presidents of
the United States were targets of political and character assassinations, aimed
at replacing the leadership with more suitable individuals. Two Presidents have
been shot at, John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, and in 1981, Ronald
Reagan was wounded by a shooter with connections to then Vice President George
H. W. Bush.
The “impeachment” of two
U.S. Presidents was orchestrated by the CIA. The Watergate scandal in 1974 that
helped take down President Richard Nixon involved “intelligence officer” Bob
Woodward who infiltrated The Washington Post and worked as a reporter there.
The second President to be impeached was Bill Clinton in 1990s. After the
former U.S. President rejected plans to bomb Serbia thus avoiding thousands of
deaths at the time, he was impeached with the help of “agent” Monica Lewinsky.
Subsequently, Bill Clinton towed the line and ordered air strikes after his
staged “acquittal”.
At present, we are
witnessing similarly orchestrated attempts by U.S. intelligence agencies and
rival political clans to impeach President Donald Trump, who stands accused of
“betraying” the nation by abusing his high office and having ties to Russia
(first and foremost, on Russophobic grounds). It is yet unclear what other
steps will be taken to remove him from office.
Still, such developments are
hardly surprising considering the fact that the tendency to attack U.S.
Presidents is becoming a tradition. Let us recall not only the assassination of
Abraham Lincoln but also the attempt on the life of Andrew Jackson in 1835 at
the end of his presidential term.
However, U.S. intelligence
services do not only target domestic politicians. We simply need to recall the
famous Prime Minister and President of Cuba, Fidel Castro, who set a record by
managing to survive more than 600 attempts on his life, many of which
(especially from 1959 to 1962) were orchestrated with the help of the U.S.
intelligence. U.S. spy agencies used highly unusual weapons to try and
accomplish their goal, such as exploding cigars; pens equipped to shoot
bullets; booby-trapped conches placed on the sea bottom of Castro’s favorite
beach, and even poison that was meant to destroy his famous beard and cause
baldness.
When discussing USA’s direct
involvement in political assassinations of foreign leaders, one cannot but
mention the removal of Muammar al‑Gaddafi from power. The process began during
Ronald Reagan’s presidential term with the bombing of the leader’s palace aided
by ships of U.S. Navy’s 6th Fleet, and ended with his assassination on 20
October 2011, greeted by great rejoicing from Hillary Clinton.
There are many other names
we could mention in connection with persecution of leaders and activists. And
we could learn more about them from the work of the U.S. committee
headed by Senator Frank Church that investigated abuses by the CIA, the FBI and
other government agencies.
In this context, we cannot
help but remember the attempt on the life of Venezuela’s President Nicolás
Maduro with the aid of drones carrying explosives in August of last year.
It is also worth noting that
with the development of technology, the means employed by U.S. intelligence
agencies to plan and carry out political assassinations are noticeably changing
and widening in scope (especially when it comes to drones). With this in mind,
a recent report by the U.S. C4ISRNET media outlet is worth noting. According to
the article, the United States Army is scheduled to test grenade launching
drones, Cerberus, in 2020. These unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are light,
they easily fit in a backpack, and have a user-friendly interface and are
capable of shooting accurately. The website of Australian startup Skyborne
Technologies, which designed the drone, confirms that the United States has
shown interest in the Cerberus grenade launching drone.
In its article about Cerberus, C4ISRNET admits that similar
drones have been used by “insurgent and irregular forces” for years, including
by members of terrorist group Daesh (banned in the Russian Federation), who had
employed quadcopters in the battle for Mosul. Incidentally, one of the first
people to attempt an attack on the Pentagon and the Capitol using a drone in
2011 was a young “US-born citizen of South Asian background” from
Massachusetts.
All in all, we will continue
to follow the fate of the grenade launching drone Cerberus as U.S. armed forces
continue to test it. And who knows, perhaps this unmanned aerial vehicle or
another similar “invention” of the U.S. intelligence agencies will end up at
the center of yet another political assassination in Washington.
Vladimir Platov,
an expert on the Middle East, exclusively for the online magazine “New Eastern Outlook”.
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