Reference News Network, March 17 report: On March 3, the CNN website published an article titled "Has the United States Ever Killed Foreign Leaders Before?" by Zak Wolf. The full text is as follows:

For decades, the U.S. government has avoided targeting foreign leaders due to the repeated failures of CIA covert operations and the unpredictable consequences. Historian Tim Naftali said that the U.S. killing Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, which was an unprovoked war against Iran, marks the first time in modern history that the U.S. publicly killed a foreign leader, and this was done in collaboration with Israel.

Notably, in the past two months, the U.S. has carried out "decapitation" operations against two foreign governments. Both countries are hostile to the U.S. and are rich in oil resources. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is currently awaiting trial in New York, while Khamenei has died.

Overstepping under the Name of "Counterterrorism"

In fact, U.S. law prohibits the U.S. from participating in assassination operations. A recent law is the executive order signed by Ronald Reagan. This order still has legal effect.

But since the "9/11" attacks, Congress has granted the president broad authority to use force against terrorism. Since then, the U.S. has slowly but steadily moved toward this goal. Both Republican and Democratic presidents have killed terrorist organization leaders. In 2020, President Donald Trump ordered airstrikes in Iraq that killed Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani, marking another step forward for the U.S. Now, the U.S. has killed another foreign head of state.

Naftali said that deciding to kill a foreign head of state is no easy decision, nor a hasty one.

At 2:30 a.m. Eastern Time on Saturday, Trump announced the attack on social media with a video, claiming without evidence that Iran posed a "imminent" threat. However, in a phone call with ABC News journalist Jonathan Karl, Trump gave a more personal reason for killing Khamenei. Karl said Trump said, "I got him before he got me. They tried twice, but I got him first."

Trump likely referred to intelligence released by the U.S. intelligence community in the summer of 2024, which showed Iran plotting to assassinate the then-presidential candidate Trump and other officials. At about the same time, a gunman with no known connection to Iran attempted to assassinate Trump at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. Iran denied the claim.

Multiple Plots to Overthrow Regimes

Saddam Hussein of Iraq was executed after being overthrown by U.S. forces and put on trial by Iraqi authorities.

Muammar Gaddafi of Libya was killed during a firefight after being captured by revolutionary forces, and this operation was assisted by the U.S. and its allies' bombing campaign.

The CIA directly and secretly participated in the 1973 coup that overthrew Chilean leader Salvador Allende.

Other leaders who were overthrown under U.S. intervention, such as Iranian leader Mohammad Mossadegh in 1953, were imprisoned rather than executed. The U.S. later admitted its role in the coup. The reason for the coup was concern by the U.S. and Britain that Iran and its oil would fall into the Iron Curtain. The grandson of former President Theodore Roosevelt, Kermit Roosevelt Jr., participated in planning the coup in Iran.

After the Watergate scandal, the Senate established a bipartisan special committee to assess abuses of power by U.S. intelligence agencies. This committee, named after Idaho Senator Frank Church, issued a special report specifically addressing the issue of assassinations.

This report detailed in hundreds of documents the actions taken by the U.S. to weaken the power of foreign leaders and assassinate them, most notably the failed attempts by the Kennedy administration to assassinate Cuban leader Fidel Castro.

As national security analyst Peter Bergen wrote, during Obama's presidency, the U.S. completely reformed the use of secret drone strikes to kill suspected terrorists.

Since then, technology has advanced further. The Israeli Defense Forces posted a video on social media showing the last moments of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar: He was alone in a destroyed room, with a drone hovering nearby.

It remains unclear what technology was used to kill Khamenei. In July 2024, Iran claimed that Hamas political bureau leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed in Tehran by a "short-range projectile".

Israel seems to have launched bombs that killed Khamenei and other leaders, but previous reports by CNN stated that the CIA provided key intelligence on his whereabouts, making him the target of the attack.

"Ultimately Harmful to the U.S."

Dan Bongino wrote about unsuccessful assassination attempts for CNN in 2008. He said the Church Committee concluded that there were at least eight failed attempts to assassinate Castro between 1960 and 1965, including mafia assassinations.

The committee's conclusions showed that both parties opposed assassination. The report quoted President John Kennedy saying that the U.S. should not assassinate foreign leaders. Considering the numerous failed attempts to kill Castro and the eventual assassination of Kennedy himself, this is ironic.

More detailed quotes come from Richard Helms' testimony. He participated in the 1953 Iranian coup and was involved in CIA assassination operations before becoming the director of the CIA.

In his testimony, Helms explained the moral reasons and practical reasons for opposing assassination.

"If you plan to remove a foreign leader through such means, who will take over the country? From an operational standpoint, will your situation really be better after the operation?"

"The whole operation ultimately harms the U.S." Helms said. He made these remarks in the years before the Iranian Islamic Revolution, when he was serving as the U.S. ambassador to Iran.

When discussing the stance against assassination, Helms said, "It's not because I've become indecisive or lost my courage, but purely because I believe that it is no longer a feasible option in today's United States."

Three U.S. presidents - Republican Gerald Ford, Democrat Jimmy Carter, and Republican Ronald Reagan - all signed executive orders banning the U.S. government from carrying out assassinations.

Reagan's executive order is still legally valid, but the Supreme Court has granted Trump broad immunity for official actions during his term.

Trump is seizing the opportunity to reshape the global geopolitical system, and his actions in the Western and Eastern Hemispheres have not sought congressional approval. (Translated by Zhao Feifei)

March 13, a man in Tehran holds an Iranian flag passing by a portrait of the late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. (AP)

Original: toutiao.com/article/7618136523585749542/

Statement: This article represents the views of the author.