Originally posted by Turnbull:
Michael humiliates Tom by saying that if history has taught anything, it's that anyone can be killed. Then he instantly turns and says, "Rocco?" Notice that he doesn't say "Al?" In effect, he gave Rocco no choice: either Rocco took on this likely suicidal task, or he'd be in the same doghouse as Hagen.
I'm not gonna claim that this theory is the correct one, but you
could look at it another way:
By asking Rocco if Roth could be killed, Michael may have been acording him
more respect than Neri. By asking Rocco, the implication could be that Rocco was the more accomplished hitman, and Michael valued his opinion above Neri's.
At no time did Michael suggest that it had to be Rocco who actually carried out the hit. He was merely asking him if it could be accomplished. It was left up to Rocco to devise the method.
Had he implemented a different plan, other than one with himself as the shooter, and had it failed, Rocco could have always fallen back on his original "Difficult, not impossible" position.("Look, Mike, I tried. But Roth was just too well guarded. Even if I had gone on the hit myself, there was still no way ...")
I agree that Rocco saw his importance in the family diminishing with the rise of Neri, and I think he himself made the decision to be the assassin, figuring that (a)it had a better chance of success that way, and (b)by killing Roth himself, he could regain a measure of respect in Michael's eyes.
