I have thought about that TB. For that matter what precautions would have been taken for ANY assassins that Mike figured would have been captured in the Roth hit? As I stated in my earlier post, given the 'physics' of the hit if you will(inside an airport w/ Roth surrounded) the possibility of the assassins NOT escaping has to be on the forefront of Mike's mind. Which is why I speculated he sent one gun instead of say four, one dead gunman instead of 3 dead gunman and 1 FBI hostage.

It had to be. TB's point is well taken, however the fact of the matter is that Rocco was shot dead, and thus was identified by the FBI as one of Michael's hitters. I would suppose that Michael had some kind of means by which he could deny involvement but you would think that someone at the FBI might start sniffing a little pattern here....first all the enemies of the Corleones die on the same afternoon in New York, then a few years later Freank Pentangeli and Hyman Roth die at more or less the same time.

Perhaps this is why he asks Tom 'are you gonna come along with me in these things I have to do or what.' He knew he was going to have to explain his ties to the dead assassins. Which again begs the question why not hire an untraceable assassin? But then again where the heck do you find one is willing to go on a hit like this one?(ROCCOROCCOROCCO)

That point is very well taken, Ice! I'd always thought that when Michael said, "Are you gonna come along with me in these things I have to do," he meant convincing Frankie to kill himself. But clearly, he'd need Tom's "respectability" and his front as the family lawyer (same front used at the Senate hearings) to explain away Michael's ties to Rocco if Rocco were killed or captured in the Roth hit.

I think that with those words, Michael was continuing his long-lasting insult of Tom. Michael said it in the same way as your boss might tell you if you raise an objection or ask a question "if you don't like working here you can go somewhere else." he would have said that to Tom no matter what action Mike proposed on any subject. They just happened to be discussing murder at the time. That's one reason and a major one that prompted Tom to tell Frankie who compared the Corleones to the Roman Empire "it once was."

Ice -

I think you're dead on the money in suspecting Rocco. Note in addition that Rocco is wearing an orange jacket at the beginning of Pt. II, and that it is Rocco, not Ola, who hands Michael the "orange from Miami."

A traitor on the inside must have killed the two men sent to kill Michael, and once it is granted that it could not have been Fredo, all arrows point to Rocco.

~90caliber

fredo never killed anyone... this is a fact

Its also possible that Fredo allowed the assassins on the grounds. If they arrived w/ Johnny they would have been recognized after they were dead. Fredo did not slice the assassins throats, a cpl of Ola's men did that, and these men were shielded by Fredo and later allowed to escape.

Perhaps Freddie was told by Roth 'Open the drapes so we can get a good look at what we are shooting, they are just gonna scare your brother a bit, fire a few shots into his room, get him to thinking.' Of course I think too its also possible that they were indeed just trying to scare Mike, and thats the only reason he lived.