First: He was right to think Sollozzo would try to kill his father after the failed hospital attempt. He was wrong to believe that only he could save his father, by killing Sollozzo and McCluskey. ...... The Corleones could have fed the newspapermen on their payroll the story about McCluskey being a dishonest cop mixed up in drugs and murder before, not after, the trigger was pulled........
Difficult, but not impossible. Maybe that strategy could have worked. However it could have also backfired. It is my opinion that if they chose not to kill Sollozo, then it would have still left some kind of an opening for Sollozo to kill, or have Vito killed, in some other manner.
Don Cardi