Fredo was warned about taking sides AGAINST the Family in a very similar way to that after the confrontation with Moe Green. While Michael didn't specify that the next time he screwed up he'd be dead, I think the warning was sufficient.
Do you really believe that Fredo understood that if he ever went against the family again that it would be a
fatal mistake? I don't believe so. First of all he was not smart enough to think that his own brother would kill him. And for that matter I don't believe that Michael's warning to him was one that resonated a death threat. At that point I still don't think that Michael was ruthless and cold hearted enough to even think of having his own brother killed. But that's for another topic.
He had proven himself a risk to the Family one time too many.
Before the attack on Michael in Tahoe, when was Fredo ever a risk to the family? In front of Moe Green? I wouldn't call his trying to smooth things out between Moe and Mike a risk to the family.
As you say, "...Michael Corleone's life was bound by a moral code which is different than ours." But so was Fredo's. He grew up and made a living in the same Family, the same business Michael did. And he made his choices knowing the consequenses if his brother ever got wise to him. And he suffered those consequenses
There is no way, in my opinion, that anyone can hold Fredo to the same standards as Michael as far as knowing the consequences of the business that they were in. Fredo never had the privaledge of being tutored by his father, the way the Sonny and Tom did, and later on Michael. If anything Fredo was shielded from the realities of the business that his family was in. That is why he could not react quickly when his father was shot in front of him. And that is also why the shooters didn't even bother to take out Fredo during the hit on the Don, because it was probably common knowledge within the families that Fredo was not really part of the guts of the business, and therefore was not threat. I'm sure that Gatto, when conspiring with Barzini's people, assured them that Fredo was not a person to worry about. All Fredo was good for was to run a mickey mouse nightclub, to pick someone up at the airport. Even Vito, in his conversation with Michael in the garden, says "Fredo, well," motioning to Michael that Fredo was never cut out for the business.
Michael was COMPLETELY justified in ordering them.
There is no justification for killing someone like Fredo. Someone who was stupid enough to think that nothing would happen to Michael. Someone who only did it because he thought that finally, there would be something in it for him. That he could finally do something good in Michael and the rest of the family's eyes. I assure you that Fredo probably lived with the thought that the family looked down on him because he was unable to even hold onto his gun when Vito was shot, let alone fire a bullet. Dealing with Roth was Fredos way of redeeming himself in the eyes of his family. " Hey, you see? I'm smart, I COULD do things! I helped the family"
Again, IMO The only reason that Michael had Fredo killed was to assure himself and those around him that he was the almighty powerful Don who would not forgive or show any sign of weekness. It was to show the Roccos and the Neris that he was not one to ever be screwed with. It was Michael's way of showing all those under him how ruthless he was. It was a message to them all. "I even killed my own brother, so don't you even think about going against me!"
It was a show of strength. Michael used Fredo's killing as the prime example. Fredo became the sacraficial lamb.
Don Cardi
