I have no spur
To prick the sides of my intent, but only
Vaulting ambition, which o’erleaps itself,
And falls on the other. ibid. I vii 25
Let us be sacrificers, but not butchers, Caius,
We all stand up against the spirit of Caesar,
And in the spirit of men there is no blood ...
Let’s carve him as a dish fit for the gods,
Not hew him as a carcass fit for hounds. William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar II i 166-168 & 173-174
It never fails to amaze me what a man will do to get in the Oval Office. The Pelican Brief 1993 starring Julia Roberts & Denzel Washington & Sam Shepard & John Heard & Tony Goldwyn & James B Sikking & William Atherton & Robert Culp & Stanley Tucci & Hume Cronyn et al, director Alan J Pakula, Supreme Court judge
I think I stumbled across something in the office I wasn’t supposed to see. ibid. source to Grantham
This is a brief written by a eager-beaver Tulane law student … It implicates the White House. ibid. aide to president
Assassination is the quickest way. Moliere aka Jean-Baptiste Poquelin
For secret assassination, either simple or chase, the contrived accident is the most effective technique. When successfully executed, it causes little excitement and is only casually investigated. CIA Assassin’s Manual
Vehicle ‘accidents’ are used as a way of assassination precisely because they are such a common cause of death. It is easy for the authorities to claim that anyone crying foul play is simply a ‘conspiracy theorist’. David Shayler, former MI5 Agent
One such ‘unnamed’ source – a former SAS sergeant – reveals that the ‘accident’ in which Diana died bore all the tell-tail signs of a known special forces assassination technique known as the ‘Boston brakes’. Agreed, on first hearing, this sounds a bit James Bond – contrived. But bear with it. Because then you go on to read the testimony of former SAS officer and world famous explorer, Sir Ranulph Fiennes, who confirms that the ‘Boston brakes’ is indeed a commonly employed assassination technique used by hired ‘hit squads’, and that it involves the use of a device which remotely controls the target-vehicle’s steering and brakes. Fiennes goes on to say that this method has been used at least once in England, and in this regard describes in some detail the assassination of one Major Michael Marman, who was killed in a ‘car crash’ near Stonehenge in 1986. There’s no doubt that the operation that killed Major Marman, as described by Fiennes, as well as by former Equerry to the Queen, Air Marshall Sir Peter Horsley, was chillingly identical to the series of events that killed Diana. Once again I have to say that the way the authors are able to continually corroborate their evidence in this way, throughout the book, is very impressive. Stephen Reid, review of King & Beveridge, Princess Diana: The Hidden Evidence
The CIA were terrified that the Russians might also be working to produce a programmed assassin. They decided to continue funding Dr Cameron; whether he was creating healthy human beings or not was now irrelevant. The prefect assassin would be programmed for one simple task, and the fewer memories and emotions involved the better. Adam Curtis, The Living Dead II: You Have Used Me As A Fish Long Enough, BBC 1995
For 20 years the CIA had been planning assassinations and overthrowing leaders of foreign governments all around the world using poisons and specially made secret weapons. Adam Curtis, Can’t Get You Out of My Head III: Money Changes Everything, BBCiplayer 2021
If anyone gets the opportunity to assassinate him [John Major], I don’t think they should save it. Sheikh Omar Bakri Mohammed
In the summer of 1586 radical Catholics planned to assassinate Elizabeth I, queen of England ... Elizabeth’s spymaster, Sir Francis Walsingham, is determined to stop them. He masterminds an extraordinary spy war to protect the Tudor dynasty. Elizabeth I’s War on Terror, National Geographic 2014
During the early 1580s at least three assassination plots against Elizabeth were exposed. ibid.
Is it possible to program somebody to kill and without them realising it? Derren Brown: The Experiments: The Assassin, Channel 4 2011
Under the 1952 Hypnotism Act we cannot broadcast the entire process of hypnotic induction. ibid.
In reality the mixture of my confidence and their expectation of that's what they are supposed to do is enough for them to ... go back under. ibid.
Are they genuinely under some influence or playing along? ibid.
All four commit a highly dangerous act. ibid.
They don’t think that you’re really important enough to be worth assassinating you. Yes, Minister s2e3: The Death List, Sir Humphrey to Jim, BBC 1981
The claim is that the State Department also targeted [Hugo] Chavez, and by knowing his DNA the CIA was then able to develop a weapon that would cause him to develop a virulent form of cancer. Kennedy Killings: The CIA Conspiracy
Claims that seven Latin American presidents developed cancer around the same time as President Chavez. ibid.
It’s the old Bulgarian umbrella trick – KGB speciality. I thought they were out of business. Bullet to Beijing 1995 starring Michael Caine & Jason Connery & Mia Sara & Michael Gambon & Michael Sarrazin & Lev Prygunov & Anatoly Davidov & Sue Lloyd & Burt Kwouk et al, director George Mihalka
A sinister assassination plot against the last great pharaoh of ancient Egypt – Ramesses III. Scandals of Ancient Egypt, Discovery 2016
The woman I was, the one I used to be – she’s gone. The Long Kiss Goodnight 1996 starring Geena Davis & Samuel L Jackson & Patrick Malahide & Craig Bierko & Brian Cox & David Morse & G D Spradlin & Toom Amandes & Yvonne Zima & Melina Kanakaredes & Alan North et al, director Renny Harlin
You’re an assassin working for the United States government. ibid.
I only accepted assignments against the so-called Great. Those overgrown balloons who just cry out to be popped. The Green Man 1956 starring Alastair Sim & Terry-Thomas & George Cole & Raymond Huntley & Jill Adams & Colin Gordon & Avril Angers & John Chandos & Eileen Moore & Arthur Brough & Dora Bryan & Richard Wattis & Alexander Gauge & Marie Burke et al, director
What I do requires a certain mindset. I do assignments ... The best jobs are the ones nobody knows you’re there. The Mechanic 2011 starring Jason Statham & Ben Foster & Tony Goldwyn & Donald Sutherland & Jeff Chase & John McConnell & Mini Anden & Stuart Greer et al, director Simon West
Everybody breaks. That’s the point. ibid.
I’m an exterminator. The Contract 2006 starring Morgan Freeman & John Cusack & Jamie Anderson & Alice Krige & Megan Dodds & Corey Johnson & Jonathan Hyde & Ian Shaw & Jonas Talkington et al, director Bruce Beresford, Freeman
The issues are just too complicated. ibid. Freeman
‘We’ve received information about an assassination attempt on someone in the Attorney General’s office.’ Cocaine III: An Honest Citizen, colleagues’ meeting at Maria Chirolla’s flat, Channel 4 2005
Many public figures have been assassinated by the terrorist groups. ibid.
Protesting against new media laws which will criminalise false or inaccurate reporting. Killing Magabe, JourneyMan TV 2002
On the eve of a presidential election Robert Mugabe is displaying more than a politician’s customary fixation with media bias. ibid.
We expose the plan to kill Robert Mugabe, we reveal the people behind it and the most troubling part of this plot – their motives. ibid.
For the past twelve months Mugabe has accused the MDC of waging a terror campaign backed by British Intelligence to destabilise Zimbabwe. ibid.
According to Dickens and Madson, Tsvangirai requested the assassination of President Mugabe at their first meeting and a deal was struck. ibid.
The democratic process threatens to reinstall him. ibid.
A regime that imprisoned Robert Mugabe for ten years and killed thousands of his supporters; a regime that remarkably lasted until 1980. ibid.
For many years Captain Peter Mason worked for British Intelligence as a professional assassin to Her Majesty’s government. ibid.
The first hunter team: Codenamed Baker the team reported to the SAS, a top secret group working for British Intelligence. Its mission: to avenge Nazi atrocities against British personnel and secret agents. ibid.
At the top of Stalin’s list his arch-rival Leon Trotsky. ibid.
In 1978 the Bulgarian secret service asked the KGB to assassinate a dissident living in London: the intended victim was Georgi Markov, a popular Bulgarian writer and anti-communist … The poison was a lethal derivative of ricin. ibid.
The peace of what have been called the Serene Olympics has been shattered just before dawn this morning about five o’clock … Munich 2006 starring Eric Bana & Daniel Craig & Ciaran Hinds & Omar Metwally & Mathieu Kassovitz & Hanns Zischler & Ayelet Zurer & Geoffrey Rush & Mehdi Nebbou & Gila Almagor & Karim Saleh et al, director Steven Spielberg, ABC News
There were eleven hostages: two were killed in their rooms yesterday morning; nine were killed at the airport tonight. They’re all gone. ibid.