The Lingo of Dealey Plaza

The Lingo of Dealey Plaza 

Joshia "Tink" Thompson, is the author of "Six Seconds in Dallas" and "Gumshoe," his recollections of 20 years as a San Francisco private eye in the best Sam Spade tradition.

Thompson once said that in every case he ever worked there came a point in the investigation that a key piece of evidence led to everything falling into place and resolving the crime, except that didn't happen with JFK, at least until now.

Now it can be shown that we have approached the assassination of JFK from all the wrong angles - either as a traditional crime with tampered evidence or a conspiracy of mobsters, rogue CIA agents, big oil men and corrupt politicians sitting around plotting the crime.

But now we can look at it from a different and fresh perspective - that of a covert intelligence operation that was designed to shield the actual perpetrators, a typical covert operation that utilized standard intelligence procedures including deception and disinformation.

If we look at the assassination of President Kennedy as a covert intelligence operation rather than the work of a deranged loner, all the pieces of the puzzle suddenly fit into place, whereas before there were pieces that didn't fit and even had pieces left over.

Any true account must include all the facts and evidence and while the lone nut scenario and various conspiracy theories only utilize what supports their contention, the covert action view takes everything into account.

As with any special interest, in order to begin to understand this approach you need to learn the basic lingo and language used by covert operators.

When I was asked to write a history of golf at the Atlantic City Country Club I suggested they get a golfer as I never played the game, but they said they had plenty of golfers, they needed an historical researcher and writer. All I had to do, the golf pro explained, was to learn the lingo and terminology, and then I wrote, "Birth of the Birdie," a history of golf including how the term "birdie" was coined.

When linguistics professor David Maurer was researching his book on the slang terms of the con artists and the criminal underworld, he was led to write "The Big Con," that was developed into the movie "The Sting."

The US Army author of "Psychological Warfare" Paul Linebarger taught a class on the subject of Black Propaganda for CIA officers and included Maurer's book "The Big Con" as required reading.

And when a former general and head of ACSI was asked how the best case officers handled their agents he said - just like The Sting.

And you can see how both confidence men who pull off the Big Cons like The Sting and covert operators use the same methods and terminology.

Just as The Sting used a fake gambling parlor complete with actors and furniture that disappeared after they pulled off their stunt, JMWAVE had a fake Business front - Zenith Technological Services with a front office that had sales charts and framed certificates on the wall. 

And just like the con artists in The Sting, the covert operators used aliases, cut-outs, cover stories and "inside men" like William Harvey and Ted Shackley who did the planning in the office and "outside men" who served on the street as case officers dealing directly with the agents, assets and operators.

Peter Dale Scott, Larry Hancock, John Newman and Rex Bradford all have compiled lists of aliases, code names and ciphers and their true names, translations and references so those who take this approach can get past the intentional deceptions and understand what's really going on.