A new book published in the US, “Code Names,” by William M. Arkin, exposes information about a US military presence in Israel, including US Army bases at secret locations. It gives a long list of code names that describe milestones in strategic cooperation between Jerusalem and Washington.
The book’s revelations about ongoing cooperation between the US Armed Forces and the Israel Defense Forces impart a new dimension to the saying by late Republican Senator Jesse Helms that Israel is America’s aircraft carrier in the Middle East, and that this fact alone justifies the military aid that the US grants Israel every year.
Arkin is an independent journalist and military commentator for NBC, and a former intelligence analyst for US ground forces. He calls himself a key to decoding slang and code names used by the US Armed Forces.
The book also sheds light on military ties between the US and most of the world’s countries, and on the organizational chart of federal defense agencies. A front-page story in “The New York Times” on one of the book’s scoops the operation of secret US Army commando units within the US, under a plan classified as top secret, has given the book broad publicity and a basis of legitimacy.
The book lists US military bases in Israel. According to the book, these bases are called sites, and numbered Site 51, Site 53, Site 54, Site 55, and Site 56. The form indicates that other unspecified “sites” exist, but this is not explicitly stated.
Published by Globes [online] - www.globes.co.il - on January 26, 2005