William Arkin's Code Names

Bill Arkin has published a new book, Code Names: Deciphering U.S. Military Plans, Programs and Operations in the 9/11 World that “identifies more than 3,000 code names and details the plans and missions for which they stand.”

General Charles Horner, commander of coalition air forces in Operation Desert Storm, gives the book some … um … interesting “praise”:

William Arkin’s Code Names will rock the National Security Community. We do not agree on any issue, my problem when we argue is that unlike most of his ilk, he researches the facts thoroughly and has impeccable integrity.

Code Names scares the hell out of me because Arkin dredged up so many secrets and turned them into a comprehensive tour of our national security efforts around the globe.

This book lays out for the reader what China, Israel, France and Russia probably spent billions trying to find out. It will become the basic reference book for those who study our foreign affairs, unfortunately that includes every spy agency around the world.

This book shows the dysfunctional aspects of our all too frequent over-classification process that blocks our agencies from working together, hides waste and stifles debate of important issues. Most of all it proves we need to rethink how we protect our secrets in the information age.

I’ve already ordered my copy.