August 28, 2012 / by emptywheel

 

Dear CIA: Maybe It’s Time to Spring for New PO Boxes?

I’ve suggested since the “names” of the two “trainers” ambushed in Mexico last Friday were released they were likely covers.

Not only are they apparently covers, but one of them was tied to a PO Box whose prior user had already been publicly tied to the CIA’s rendition program.

But an examination of public records suggests that the name used by one of the men may be fictitious, with similarities to others created by the CIA to provide cover for its officers overseas.

Shortly after the shooting, major Mexican news organizations identified one of the U.S. officials as Stan D. Boss, a name associated with a post office box at a Dunn Loring mail facility tied to at least one previous CIA cover identity that was publicly exposed. Records indicate that Boss was issued a Social Security number in Texas in 2004. Beyond that, the records are largely blank, with not even a date of birth associated with the name.

That same Dunn Loring post office is linked to dozens of other names that have similarly scant records and to Social Security numbers issued around the same time. Among the previous holders of post office boxes at that location was an individual named Philip P. Quincannon, who apparently does not exist but who was listed as an officer with at least two aviation companies suspected of involvement in CIA rendition flights after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Call me crazy, but these narcos are pretty shrewd guys. If they discover Stan Dove Boss has been picking up noted rendition guy Philip P. Quincannon’s mail, they might make certain conclusions about what line of work Stan Dove Boss is in (as if the name weren’t already a dead giveaway). And they might show up with 4 cars full of Federales to try to keep Stan Dove Boss off their turf.

Jeebus. It’s bad enough we’re invading Mexico with our spooks. But we’re sending them in with transparent covers.

Copyright © 2012 emptywheel. All rights reserved.
Originally Posted @ https://www.emptywheel.net/2012/08/28/dear-cia-maybe-its-time-to-spring-for-new-po-boxes/