William Arkin’s book, Code Names: Deciphering U.S. Military Plans, Programs, and Operations in the 9/11 World, was covered on the front page of the New York Times, and he talked about it on BookTV (C-SPAN), February 3, 2005.
His first work of fiction, History in One Act: A Novel of 9/11, will be out in 2021. Here are some reviews & praise for William Arkin’s Code Names…
“William Arkin makes amateurs of all of us who think we know something about America’s constantly expanding hidden world. ‘Code Names’ is quite simply a stunning array of secrets and super-secrets that Arkin has put together in a way that makes it easy for any citizen to comprehend—and decide for himself or herself whether such activities are consistent with democracy and good government.”
“Arkin’s solution: Fight fire with fire. A secret held, a secret disclosed. He offers many bomblets, each of which could make up a chapter of the 600-plus-page book.”
“Full of useful information not only for scholars and practitioners of intelligence, but for any serious newspaper reader.”
“William Arkin, who successfully challenged a number of Air Force claims about its bombing results during the 1991 Persian Gulf war, is continuing his role of informed critic and irritant with the book Code Names. It is a gold mine...”
“Arkin, a military analyst with NBC News and an independent journalist with impressive credentials, has taken on this massive subject with a solitary vengeance stretched out over years … dedicated readers, including students of national security policies, will look for specific topics in small doses or cover sections of interest in a measured, incremental approach.”
“A detailed and comprehensive exposure of the American security system ... whether or not one agreed with Arkin’s logic and motivation for writing this book, the information contained inside Code Names makes for a fascinating read for any national security specialist.”
“Arkin lays out his version of patriotism, explains what ‘special access programs’ (SAPs) are, the differing levels of information security generate and how they get their names. Four sections follow: a ‘cast of characters,’ describing U.S. and foreign agencies, commands and other organizations involved in sensitive operations; a list of their ‘activities by country’; the ‘code names dictionary’ ... and a glossary of acronyms (‘MIO: maritime interdiction operation’) and other terms. Taken together, they offer a prismatic array of activities that come under the aegis of the war on terror, and provide a concrete means for further research and debate.”
Read the full review at Publishers Weekly
“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.”