Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez wasn’t a U.S. National, and of course Robertson didn’t kill him. But this is what he is acting like.
Under their present guidelines, a station can be fined for partial nudity, but it cannot be fined if it advocates murder or other felonies. The hypocrisy boggles the mind, particularly since the Supreme Court had ruled long ago that free speech protections didn’t extend to that which could result in death; e.g., yelling fire in a crowded theater.
“You know, I don’t know about this doctrine of assassination, but if he thinks we’re trying to assassinate him, I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it. It’s a whole lot cheaper than starting a war. And I don’t think any oil shipments will stop. But this man is a terrific danger and the United … This is in our sphere of influence, so we can’t let this happen. We have the Monroe Doctrine, we have other doctrines that we have announced. And without question, this is a dangerous enemy to our south, controlling a huge pool of oil, that could hurt us very badly. We have the ability to take him out, and I think the time has come that we exercise that ability. We don’t need another $200 billion war to get rid of one, you know, strong-arm dictator. It’s a whole lot easier to have some of the covert operatives do the job and then get it over with.”
Pat Robertson, Aug 22 2005, 700 Club broadcast
Below are the covert operatives Robertson was talking about:
Assassination and the CIA
“Public figures or guarded officials may be killed with great reliability and some safety if a firing point can be established prior to an official occasion. The propaganda value of this system maybe very high.”
CIA Assassination Manual
“…a) The precision rifle. In guarded assassination, a good hunting or target rifle should always be considered as a possibility. Absolute reliability can nearly always be achieved at a distance of one hundred yards. In ideal circumstances, the range may be extended to 250 yards. Public figures or guarded officials may be killed with great reliability and some safety if a firing point can be established prior to an official occasion. The propaganda value of this system may be very high…. “
CIA Instructional Guide for Political Assassinations
“…..However, there are many cases in which firearms are probably more efficient than any other means. These cases usually involve distance between the assassin and the subject…”
*Note: Please refer to National Security Archives for original document images. Related links in the Cold War series: