I just came across
this post by the inimitable Tbogg and had a though of my own on the subject.
My feeling is that the codename "Curveball" is so ridiculous that you have to wonder whether or not someone was having a little joke.
Imagine you're a CIA analyst who realizes that the country is going to war -- no matter what happens -- because this is what the president wants. Now imagine that you've been instructed to massage the intelligence in such a way as to create a phony casus belli, something which you are loath to do, but have no way to avoid other than career suicide. How do you respond? You simply come up a name for your intelligence source that obliquely infers that person's lack of credibility, thereby repairing somewhat your heavily damaged moral compass. I suppose you could call it a little "fuck you" to the administration hacks whose water you're carrying.
Makes sense from a psychological standpoint, no?
Of course this could be totally coincidental -- there will be eventually a hurricane Mary, for instance -- but it definately makes one think.