This could get ugly…

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has long believed the U.S. government has been trying to kill him. American Televangelist Pat Robertson did little to allay his paranoia with this statement:

“You know, I don’t know about this doctrine of assassination, but if [Chavez] thinks we’re trying to assassinate him, I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it,” Robertson said. “It’s a whole lot cheaper than starting a war … and I don’t think any oil shipments will stop.”

Read the full article from Fox News (just in case you think this is more conspiring by the liberal media)

Behold, an early christmas present from one wack-job to another. It will be interesting to see if Chavez is able to parlay this into an even stronger political position (he’s already got a 70% approval rating) in a country where many are deeply suspicious of U.S. intentions (that oil comment at the end didn’t help) in a surge of anti-American sentiment. I would love to see how this plays in Venezuelan media, where the distinction between Robertson’s views and administration policy will likely be muddied.

As for Robertson’s suggestion - aside from the obvious theological issues it raises, the jaw-dropping stupidity of such an action politically, and the questionable strategery of notifying the person you’d like to see assasinated of your intentions in a very public way (not so covert now, is it Pat?) - it just happens to be illegal. Illegal for very good reason, I might add. World War I started with an assasination. (Franz Ferdinand isn’t just a cool band name, incidentally.) JFK tried to have Castro assasinated. Didn’t turn out so well for Jack, though Castro’s still kicking. Add to the mess that many in South America believe, not without reason, that the CIA has lead or had a hand in numerous assassinations and many more attempts. We would do well to remember that assassination is historically a form of terrorism, not a morally supportable or pragmatic defense against it. Venezuela’s Vice President notes this in responding to Robertson’s statement in a NY Times article.