In practice, the US has on occasion encountered difficulty in its Imperial progress, most often due to country leaders proving resistant to American colonisation. In such cases, if payments of cash and the promise of free weapons fail to turn a patriot into a traitor, the obstacle must unfortunately be eliminated. Following is a list of prominent foreign individuals whom the US assassinated or, in a few instances, tried to kill and failed, including three attempts on the life of China’s Premier Zhou En-lai .

The list does not include assassinations the US subcontracted to Israel’s Mossad or to other groups, and also does not include a long list of more than 100 lesser figures whom the CIA has routinely eliminated throughout South and Central America, Asia and Africa. Only two nations in the world have ever had an official policy of state-sponsored assassinations, and they still have them today – the US and Israel.

The official CIA Assassination Manual, released to the public under a court order, contained detailed instructions on the methods of elimination of political obstacles. Here is one such example:

“For secret assassinations…the contrived accident is the most effective technique. When successfully executed, it causes little excitement and is only casually investigated. The most effective accident .. is a fall of 75 feet or more onto a hard surface. Elevator shafts, stair wells, unscreened windows and bridges will serve. The act may be executed by sudden, vigorous grabbing of the ankles, tipping the subject over the edge.”

The following is adapted in part from a list prepared by William Blum for his book “Killing Hope”.