Rocco was NOT sent to kill Roth because he was a traitor. Rocco took that mission because, as Turnbull has said many times, he was looking to get as close to Michael as Neri had been.
There is absolutely NO WAY that Michael would have kept Rocco around that long knowing that he was one of the traitors. No way.
And if your theory about Michael keeping Rocco close until the time was right had any merit to it, than Michael would never have let Rocco in on so many of the meetings that he had that contained such crucial information.
The only reason that Fredo was kept around until the time was right was because Michael did not want to have his mother go through losing another son. Otherwise if Mama had already been gone when Michael found out that Fredo betrayed him, Fredo wouldn't have ever even made it out of the boat house alive.
Thanks for the reply. I'm still not convinced, though:
1) I can see why Rocco would want to get as close to Mike as Neri, but if he thought the Roth assassination in the airport was the way to do it, he must have had closeness in the afterlife in mind. Surely Rocco must have known that there was no way that he would ever escape from the airport. He would either be shot dead, as he was, or taken into custody "by half the FBI." If it was known in advance that there was no chance of returning to his normal duties in the Corleone Family after shooting Roth -- being dead, or in prison for Murder 1 -- then how could this be an attempt to get closer to Mike? This is the key part of my argument, that it was known in advance that whoever was to shoot Roth was never coming home -- it was a Jack Ruby type assassination, and known in advance to be such.
2) Which crucial meetings are you referring to? If my memory serves me, these are the only meetings that follow the attempt to assassinate Michael:
-when Michael returns from Havana, he sends Neri and Rocco outside so he can speak to Tom alone.
-There is the brief exchange which precedes Michael's discussion with Fredo in the boathouse, and there nothing you wouldn't want a traitor to hear is let out. In fact Rocco wasn't even present for this conversation: he was with Fredo, and then leaves when Michael comes to speak with his brother.
-Edit: Rocco is handing Michael forms to sign in the Hotel after the Senate hearings.
-Finally, there is the meeting where Michael announces that Roth is to be killed at the airport -- "Difficult, not impossible."
Edit: Maybe I give more weight to symbolism than is warranted, but the fact that Rocco is wearing an orange jacket at the beginning of the film, and that he is the one who hands Michael the "orange from Miami," seems to me to be indirect evidence of at least something.
