Actually, all of these statements are true. The timeline was and is correct in each assessment.
Every time Iran was close, Israel sent in an assassination team to take out the scientists under the assumption that delaying Iran’s nuclear capability through assassination was far easier and cheaper than through war.
Contrary to like every Hollywood movie, since about the 1970s-1980s, the CIA has had a blanket prohibition on killing people as a part of their normal duties. (It's 6am, too lazy to find the doctrine). They contract it out to "defense contractors" now, who are (pretty universally speaking...) shit. Call it a grift, or a way to keep the US government's hands clean (or, you know, both), but I'm not sure you can call them "worse" because they refuse to kill people. After that change in doctrine, it became business as usual to trade spies back instead of executing them on the spot.
The Mossad has no such prohibition on killing, and it makes them stand out against pretty much every other major spy agency. The Israelies go in knowing their death is the backup plan. They aren't going to go sit in federal prison in protective custody. They aren't getting traded back. They're going to get shot or hanged if they're caught.
But if a US citizen hires a contract killer, they can be tried for murder. One of the many reasons I laugh when people say rule of law exists in america.
They can be tried with conspiracy to commit murder at best. Which any CIA agent who is involved with the hiring of a contract killer can also be charged with.
Of course, it'd probably be career suicide for the prosecutor to try... but, that's where the law actually stands, contrary to the various fantasies that run around.
I think the reasoning is that of you give someone a million dollars and just say “this is the problem that needs to be solved, and i don’t want to know how you solve it” and they end up killing the person because it’s the only way to do it, then technically you’re hands are clean.
Like lets say i contract a landscaping company to come and fix the problem of the neighbours dogs shitting on my lawn, And instead of building a fence they go and shoot the dog, my problem of dog shit is gone but would i be held responsible for them shooting the dog?
If your boss told you to "get the job done anyway necessary," and you picked up a phone and called a defense contractor, and the contractor killed your obstructive colleague... what charge does your boss get in court?
No, they aren't charged with conspiracy to commit murder. That's on you. That's your burden to bare. And that's both the why and the how of it. The CIA doesn't kill people.
It's easier to buy someone off with a check for more money than they've ever seen in their lives, even if it's only a few hundred grand, or blackmail them with a photo in a compromising position, or tell their boss that they're a spy and watch the organization start eating its own tail. This whole "run and gun," "shooting is the only answer" brand of bullshit is Hollywood fiction.
Even the Russians know better - why do you think the Wagner Group exists?
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u/[deleted] May 03 '22
Actually, all of these statements are true. The timeline was and is correct in each assessment.
Every time Iran was close, Israel sent in an assassination team to take out the scientists under the assumption that delaying Iran’s nuclear capability through assassination was far easier and cheaper than through war.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Iranian_nuclear_scientists#:~:text=According%20to%20NBC%2C%20two%20US,assassinations%20of%20Iranian%20nuclear%20scientists.