| "Assassin" and "Assassins" redirect here.For other uses, see Assassin (disambiguation).Assassination is the murder of a public figure.An added distinction between assassination and other forms of killing is that the assassin has an ideological or political motivation, though many assassins (especially those not part of an organization) also demonstrate insanity; other motivations are money (contract killing), revenge, or a military operation.Assassination' itself, along with terms such as 'terrorist' and 'freedom fighter', may in this context be considered a loaded term, as it implies an act where the proponents of such killings may consider them justified or even necessary.The term 'Assassin' derives from Hashshashin, a militant Ismaili Muslim sect, active in the Middle East from the eighth to the fourteenth centuries.The earliest literary use of the "assassination" is in The Tragedy of Macbeth (1605).Oxford English Dictionary's definition is:
The action of assassinating; the taking the life of any one by treacherous violence, esp.Should it include killings wherein the primary motivation is attracting attention to a political cause, wherein the victim is of secondary importance?Should it be limited to the murders of political leaders and figures hostile to the assassin's political agenda?Ancient history
Assassination is one of the oldest tools of power politics, dating back at least as far as recorded history.Emperors of Rome often met their end in this way, as did many of the Shia Imams.China an example of this is Jing Ke's failed assassination of Qin Shi Huang.The ancient Indian military advisor Chanakya wrote about assassinations in detail in his political treatise Arthashastra.Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, artists depiction from 1865.Assassin John Wilkes Booth on the right.Modern history
As the world moved into the present day and the stakes in political clashes of will continued to grow to a global scale, the number of assassinations concurrently multiplied.In the USA, Presidents Abraham Lincoln, James Garfield, William McKinley, and John F.Kennedy died at the hands of assassins, while many other presidents survived attempts on their life.Adolf Hitler meanwhile was almost killed by his own officers, and survived numerous attempts by other individuals and organizations.Hitler ultimately died by his own hand.India's "Father of the Nation", Mohandas K.Gandhi, was shot on January 30 1948 by Nathuram Godse, for what Godse perceived as his betrayal of the Hindu cause in attempting to seek peace between Hindus and Muslims.Cold War and beyond
See also: Cold War
See also: War on Terrorism
During the Cold War, there was a dramatic new increase in the number of political assassinations, likely because of the ideological polarization of most of the First and Second worlds, whose adherents were often more than willing to both justify and finance such killings.Nawabzadah Liaquat Ali Khan, the first Prime Minister of Pakistan was assassinated by Saad Akbar a lone assassin in 1951.Conspiracy theorists believe his conflict with certain members of the Pakistan military (Rawalpindi conspiracy) or suppression of Communists and antagonism towards the Soviet Union, were potential reasons for his assassination.During the Kennedy era (which, as noted before, ended in an assassination itself), Cuban President Fidel Castro narrowly escaped death on several occasions at the hands of the CIA.Most major powers were not long in repudiating Cold War assassination tactics, though many allege that this was merely a smoke screen for political benefit and that covert and illegal training of assassins continues today, with Russia, Israel and other nations accused of still regularly engaging in such operations.President Ronald Reagan (who survived an assassination attempt himself) ordered the Operation El Dorado Canyon air raid on Libya where one of the primary targets was the home residence of Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi.Benigno Servillano "Ninoy" Aquino, Jr.August 21, 1983) was a Philippine senator and a leading oppositionist to the autocratic rule of Ferdinand Marcos.He was assassinated at the Manila International Airport (now named the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in his honor) upon returning home from exile in the United States.Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.Various dictators around the world, such as Saddam Hussein, have also used assassination to remove individual opponents, or to terrorize troublesome population groups.Sunni Iraqis, with some alleging that the death squads were trained by the U.Qaeda and similar organizations, who themselves often engage in assassination tactics, both the US administrations of Clinton and Bush have backed assassinations, mostly directed against terrorist leaders like Osama bin Laden, but also against elected political leaders and opponents like Mullah Omar.In India, Prime Ministers, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi (neither of whom were related to Mohandas Gandhi), were assassinated in 1984 and 1991.The assassinations were linked to separatist movements in Punjab and northern Sri Lanka, respectively.Bhutto's assassination drew unanimous condemnation from the international community.Nearly 2000 years later Machiavelli also argued assassination could be useful in his book The Prince.There is also the risk that the target could be replaced by an even more competent leader or that such a killing (or a failed attempt) will "martyr" a leader and support his cause (by showing the moral ruthlessness of the assassins).Faced with particularly brilliant leaders, this possibility has in various instances been risked, such as in the attempts to kill the Athenian Alcibiades during the Peloponnesian War.There are a number of additional examples from World War II, the last major total war, which show how assassination was used as a military tool at both tactical and strategic levels:
The American interception of the Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto airplane during World War II, after his travel route had been decrypted.The American perception that Skorzeny's commandos were planning to assassinate Eisenhower during the Battle of the Bulge played havoc with Eisenhower's personal plans for some time, though it did not affect the battle itself.Eisenhower during Operation Greif and he said that he could prove it.There was a planned British commando raid to capture or kill the German General Erwin Rommel (also known as "The Desert Fox").Use of assassination has continued in more recent conflicts:
During the Vietnam War, partly in response to Viet Cong assassinations of government leaders, the USA engaged in the Phoenix Program to assassinate Viet Cong leaders and sympathizers, and killed between 6,000 and 41,000 individuals, with official 'targets' of 1,800 per month.During World War II, underground factions sympathizing with the Allies have been known to assassinate rival underground leaders to ensure their chances on governing their nation upon liberation from the Axis, as opposed to their rivals.Naturally, the reason given to the assassin would be that the rival leader was an Axis sympathizer.As tool of insurgents
Insurgent groups have often employed assassination as a tool to further their causes.Assassinations provide several functions for such groups, namely the removal of specific enemies and as propaganda tools to focus the attention of media and politics on their cause.The Squad's activities peaked with the assassination of 14 British agents in Dublin on Bloody Sunday in 1920.The IRA also attempted to assassinate British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher by bombing the Conservative Party Conference in a Brighton hotel.Loyalist paramilitaries retaliated by killing Catholics at random and assassinating Irish nationalist politicians.Basque separatists ETA in Spain have assassinated many security and political figures since the late 1960s, notably Luis Carrero Blanco in 1973.Since the early 1990s, they have also targeted academics, journalists and local politicians who publicly disagreed with them, meaning that many needed armed police bodyguards.The Red Brigades in Italy carried out assassinations of political figures, as to a lesser extent, did the Red Army Faction in Germany in the 1970s and 1980s.In the Vietnam War, assassinations were routinely carried out by communist insurgents against government officials and private individuals deemed to offend or rival the revolutionary movement.Such attacks, along with widespread military activity by insurgent bands, almost brought the Diem regime to collapse, prior to the US intervention.For money or gain
Individually, too, people have often found reasons to arrange the deaths of others through paid intermediaries.One who kills with no political motive or group loyalty who kills only for money is known as a Hitman or Contract Killer.Note that by the definition accepted above, while such a killer is not, strictly speaking, an assassin, if the killing is ordered and financed towards a political end, then that killing must rightly be termed an assassination, and the hitman an assassin by extension.Entire organizations have sometimes specialized in assassination as one of their services, to be gained for the right price.In the United States, Murder, Inc.Mafia, was formed for the sole purpose of performing assassinations for organized crime.In Russia, the vory (thieves), Russian organised crime syndicates, are often known to provide assassinations for the right price, as well as engaging in it themselves for their own purposes.US in the second half of the 20th century came to the conclusion that most prospective assassins spend copious amounts of time planning and preparing for their attempts.Assassinations are thus rarely a case of 'impulsive' action.Ancient methods
It seems likely that the first assassinations would have been direct and simple: stabbing, strangling or bludgeoning.As civilization took root, however, leaders began to have greater importance, and become more detached from the groups they ruled.This would have brought planning, subterfuge and weapons into successful assassination plans.The key technique was likely infiltration, with the actual assassination via stabbing, smothering or strangulation.Death cap mushrooms and similar plants became a traditional choice of assassins especially if they could not be perceived as poisonous by taste, and the symptoms of the poisoning did not show until after some time.Modern methods
With the advent of effective ranged weaponry, and later firearms, the position of an assassination target was more precarious.Bodyguards were no longer enough to hold back determined killers, who no longer needed to directly engage or even subvert the guard to kill the leader in question.Additionally the engagement of targets at greater distance dramatically increased the chances for survival of an assassin.It is considered that William the Silent of the Netherlands was the first leader assassinated by firearms (July 10, 1584).Gunpowder and other explosives also allowed the use of bombs or even greater concentrations of explosives for deeds requiring a larger touch; for an example, the Gunpowder Plot could have 'assassinated' almost a thousand people.However, many hunting rifles are accurate enough in the hands of an experienced marksman to fatally hit a target at up to 300 meters (330 yards) or more, such as the Savage Arms Model 111 rifle that was recently tested as having a calculated effective range on a human torso of over 500 yards (450 m).Modern hunting cartridges also have a flat enough trajectory to not require the shooter to compensate for bullet drop for targets up to about 250 meters (275 yards) and are powerful enough to penetrate most types of body armor with relative ease.The difficulty for an assassin lies thus more in gaining the required marksman skills, than in procuring a suitable weapon.Litvinenko, a former KGB agent, had been granted asylum in the UK in 2000 after citing persecution in Russia.Shortly before his death he issued a statement accusing Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, of involvement in his assassination.Early forms
One of the earliest forms of defense against assassins is without doubt the bodyguard.He is also, if possible, to neutralize an attacker as fast as possible, and thus often carries weapons (where legal or possible).This bodyguard function was often executed by the leader's most loyal warriors, and was extremely effective throughout most of early human history, leading to attempts via subterfuge, such as poison (which was answered by the food taster).The fidelity of individual bodyguards is an important question as well, especially for leaders who oversee states with strong ethnic or religious divisions.Failure to realize such divided loyalties leads to assassinations such as that of Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, assassinated by two Sikh bodyguards in 1984.Modern strategies
With the advent of gunpowder, ranged assassination (via bombs or firearms) became possible.As the 20th century dawned, the prevalence of assassins and their capabilities skyrocketed, and so did measures to protect against them.Most modern assassinations have been committed either during a public performance or during transport, both because of weaker security and security lapses, such as with US President John F.Patrice Lumumba and likely Salvador Allende.The methods used for protection by famous people have sometimes evoked negative reactions by the public, with some resenting the separation from their officials or major figures.President William McKinley did during the public reception at which he was assassinated.Reeder, a former under secretary for the U.Fox News, Fidel Castro had also used body doubles, though no details were specified.If the assassin is committed beyond reason (i.Notable assassinations and attempts
See also: List of assassins
The following is a list of some of the most notable assassinations and assassination attempts.Related lists
List of assassins
List of unsuccessful assassinations
List of assassinated people
List of U.Secret Societies Handbook, Michael Bradley, Cassell Illustrated, 2005.Training Iraqi Death Squads to Fight the Insurgency?Gun Tests, February 2006, Vol.CNN A short article on the U.Law CENTER, November 4, 2002.However, Executive Order 12333 which prohibited the CIA from assassinations was relaxed by the George W.Fatal Choices: Israel's Policy of Targeted Killing (PDF) at Johns Hopkins University.Judicial Executions or Legitimate Means of Defence?The History Guy: Biofiles: American Domestic Terrorists and Assassins, April 16, 2005
Tinetti, John Lawful Targeted Killing or Assassination: A Roadmap for Operators in the Global War on Terror; Joint Military Operations Dept.Naval War College, Newport, Rhode Island.The Targeted Killing of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin.March 26, 2004
Sofaer, Abraham D.March 26, 2004
Statman, Daniel Targeted Killing Vol.Dutch Stadtholder William the Silent
Killed
The first assassination carried out with a firearm.Guy Fawkes
1605
King James I of England, Parliament of England
Survived
See the Gunpowder Plot.Ravaillac
1610
King Henri IV of France
Killed
Religious murder.Paul Marat
Killed
Later often seen as a patriotic act.John Bellingham
1812
UK Prime Minister Spencer Perceval
Killed
First and only U.Prime Minister to be assassinated.Ignacy Hryniewiecki
1881
Tsar Alexander II of Russia
Killed
Assassination plot concluded with bombs.Frederick Russell Burnham
1896
Mlimo, the Ndebele religious leader
Killed
Effectively ended the Second Matabele War.Killed
The assassin was tried and acquitted in 1919.Fritz Joubert Duquesne
1916
Lord Kitchener, British Field Marshal and Secretary of State for War
Killed
Killed on the HMS Hampshire by an act of sabotage.Vlado Chernozemski
1934
Alexander I of Yugoslavia
Killed
Killed in Marseille during a state visit.Claus von Stauffenberg
1944
German dictator Adolf Hitler
Survived
See the July 20 plot.Talduwe Somarama
1959
Prime Minister of Sri Lanka Solomon Bandaranaike
Killed
Assassinated by a Buddhist monk as part of a conspiracy.Loyd Jowers
1968
Political activist Martin Luther King
Killed
Ray was convicted on a guilty plea but later recanted, while a 1999 civil trial convicted Jowers and 'unknown others', while also noting that 'governmental agencies were parties' to the plot.US President Ronald Reagan
Survived
To impress actress Jodie Foster.Satwant Singh and Beant Singh
1984
Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi
Killed
Assassinated by personal bodyguards.Unknown assassin
1986
Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme
Killed
Killed by a handgun on his way home from a cinema on a street in central Stockholm.Unknown Suicide Bomber
1993
Sri Lankan President Ranasinghe Premadasa
Killed
Attack carried out by LTTE on May Day parade.Maxime Brunerie
2002
French President Jacques Chirac
Survived
Attempted to shoot the President during the Bastille Day Military Parade.All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.See Copyrights for details.Found
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