
<p>I am no fan of knocking off heads-of-state under almost any circumstances. ; But there are exceptions. ; Certainly, Hitler rose to the level of evil and harm to warrant removal by any means possible. ; Recognizing the level of his megalomania, even members of his own military made several unsuccessful attempts.</p>



<p>In that context, let us consider the Moscow Madman Vladimir Putin. ; I put him right up there with Hitler. ; The invasion of Ukraine is not his first diabolical action – but it may be the one that finally earns him a death sentence. ; He is not only an established murderer, mass killer and war criminal, but he – like Hitler – has now disrupted efforts to maintain a relatively peaceful world order. ; Putin has come out from behind the borders of his own domain to create chaos and violence in any number of ways across the entire planet.</p>



<p>Virtually everyone agrees that he must be stopped. ; Most Putin observers say that he will not respond to indirect actions – such as sanctions. ; He only responds to force. ; That means if we want to push him back inside the walls of the Kremlin, we must defeat his military in Ukraine. ; Unless we do that, he wins – and he sees a green light to go wherever his malignant ambitions take him in the future.</p>



<p>Those same Putin observers argue that he will never cease his aggression unless and until he is removed from power – one way or the other.</p>



<p>President Biden has called Putin a killer and a war criminal. ; He has accused him of genocide. ; And in view of his bloody and brutal invasion of Ukraine, Biden flat-out stated that Putin cannot remain in power. ; He said what most observers have told us. ; If Putin remains in power, the aggression continues.</p>



<p>I do not like the idea of people killing people. ; I am generally opposed to capital punishment, and I am anti-abortion. ; For me, pro-life is a seamless cloth. ; My only exception is lethal force in defense of human life. I do believe that if you, your loved ones or others are in immediate threat to grave harm or death at the hands of another person, you are morally justified – even morally obligated – to use potentially deadly force.</p>



<p>Putin is in the process of using the instruments of state to murder people by the tens of thousands. ; Like a Mafia boss, Putin as directed the murders of political opponents. ;</p>



<p>Putin did the same thing in Georgia, Chechnya and Syria without being held accountable. ; He is currently the leading serial killer in the world. ; Putin is PERSONALLY responsible for the deaths he has ordered. ; He and he alone ordered the assassination of opponents and the invasions of nations.  ; It should not make a difference just because he is a head-of-state with membership in the United Nations. ; ;</p>



<p>The most obvious and necessary means of restoring justice and world peace is to make sure Putin to no longer at his post in the Kremlin. ; He has to go.</p>



<p>Having said that, removing Putin is not easy. ; Many argue that it is not even possible. I would agree that it is extremely difficult – and therefore unlikely at this moment. ; But still necessary. ; And if events proceed the way Putin intends, the option to remove him from power will become more necessary and more difficult in the future.</p>



<p>Even though virtually every political figure, Russian expert, and military analyst talks about the need to remove Putin, they avoid the obvious. ; How to get rid of him.</p>



<p>There are only six ways Putin is removed from power. ; He inconceivably could lose an election. ; Equally inconceivable, he could simply retire. ; He could be ousted by an internal coup – as was Nikita Khrushchev.  ; Mother Russia could lose a global war against other nations – the Hitler model. ; He could die of natural causes – but age and health suggest not soon enough. ; Or he could be bumped off by insiders or outsiders.</p>



<p>While the United States and the western world have engineered a number of regime changes, summarily killing the head-of-state have been the last choice. ; We prefer that they stand trial and be eliminated legally by local authorities – as was the case of Saddam Hussein. ; Although I prefer life in prison – like the Nazi war criminal who remained in Spandau Prison until his suicide at age 93.</p>



<p>Putin is not the subject of a policy disagreement or even pugnacious behavior. ; It is not about violating a few international laws regarding trade or marginal territorial claims. ; It is not even about human rights violations within the sovereign Russian state. ; It is about stopping a serial mass murderer in the act.</p>



<p>I would prefer he be taken into custody and stand trial for murder and war crimes, but that is even less likely to happen than his being knocked off. ; It is not the preferred option but may sadly be the only realistic option to end Putin’s never-ending war on the civilized world –and millions of innocent men, women, and children.</p>



<p>I hope that the United States and our allies are at least doing feasibility studies on how an assassination might take place. ; Maybe even working on a plan. ; Are there any new technologies that create hitherto unavailable opportunities? ; ;</p>



<p>It is risky business without any assurance of success – as we saw with Fidel Castro. ; But that option – or plan – should not be off the table, in my judgment. ; It is that or an eventual global war. ; Co-existence with Putin is no longer an option.</p>



<p>So, there ‘tis.</p>

Is it too early to consider assassination?
