[QUOTE]Originally posted by plawrence:
[Anytime someone points out that the Roth hit was a "suicide mission for Rocco", I always feel compelled to mention that there is no indication that Michael necessarily intended that Rocco actually be the one to carry out the hit. If not Rocco, then who?

Michael could've merely been asking Rocco if such a hit were possible, to which Rocco replies "Difficult, not impossible." Michael had already said, "I want that plane met." That statement tells me it wasn't a question, it was an order.

But had Rocco come to Michael with another similar plan which involved someone other than himself as the shooter, there's no reason why Michael would not have agreed to it, unless he desired that Rocco also be killed. There's every reason, IMO, for Michael to have wanted only someone completely trustworthy to carry out that mission--no substitutes, no subcontractors. That's why Michael himself had to carry out the murders of Sollozzo and McCluskey in another life-and-death mission.

But, had it been Michael's wish to eliminate Rocco, why not just have him whacked outright? Indeed--if Michael had suspected Rocco of complicity in the Tahoe attack, he would have been whacked outright. Instead, I believe, Michael had concluded that Rocco was worth less to him than Neri. So, the ruthless bastard concluded, send him on a "mission impossible." Rocco was an experienced killer who'd have a greater chance of killing Roth than any hired gun. He'd almost certainly be killed in return. That was good for Michael because he'd never live to be bribed or coerced by The Law into ratting out Michael--and Michael no longer needed Rocco anyway.
If Michael had good reason to want Rocco eliminated because Rocco was, in fact, his "enemy", then he was taking a big chance in giving this assignment to Rocco, since Rocco may have realized that Michael's insistence that he (Rocco) carry out this suicide mission meant that he (Rocco) had been identified as an enemy.

So Michael was taking a risk because if Rocco came to this realization, he might've left for the airport to kill Roth and instead headed off in the opposite direction, not only escaping himself, but leaving Roth alive as well.
Yes. That's why I believe that Michael didn't suspect Rocco of complicity in the Tahoe attack--he simply made a cold-blooded decision that Rocco was dispensible.