The sweet brief taste of double-digit Amazon

Dateline: above the garage in Portsmouth RI, 13

The Wall Street Journal profile on Tuesday gave the book a predictable bounce in the sales rankings. Prior to Tuesday's article, the PNM was hovering in the 500 to 800 range at Amazon, but as soon as it hit the stands, it was propelled right up the charts, peaking for roughly 24 hours at 40, which beats the original high of 42 on 29 April. Barnes and Noble's rank likewise hit a new high at 80. (Why the difference? Beats me.)

As before, it felt goodódamn, it felt mighty good! But what feels as good is the huge jump in hits on the site, the flood of speaking invitations, and some interesting offers for transforming the material for use in other mass media venues. In short, the book is finding an audience hungry for a vision that's positive and portrays a useful role for America beyond simply killing terrorists or firewalling itself off from that "scary" world outside.

None of this stuff we're doing in this Global War on Terrorism is easy, and we'll see plenty of dark days like Tuesday's beheading video of American Nick Berg, but in the end America needs to see itself strongly identified with a happy ending to this whole sagaónot just for Americans but for the world at large.

I got more than a few emails about the exchange I had with a military officer in the Joint Staff when I briefed the Strategic Plans and Policy (J-5) offsite (described in the WSJ article)óin effect, our disagreeing that everyone on this planet wants the same things for their children. There will always be that temptation to view the enemy as fundamentally inhuman, or something so alien we simply cannot recognize it's motivations and desires.

But I didn't want to write that book, or sell that fear, or divide this nation or this world into those who are "us" and those who must forever remain "them." I don't see a world of good and evil so much as a world of those able to do good and those prevented from that opportunity. So I will be called "quirky," and "naÔve," and a "dreamer," as I have been throughout most of my career. But this is fine so long as the material finds an audience, so long as mindsets are unfrozen, and so long as much-delayed debates are triggered by dramatically new descriptions of the tasks that lie ahead.

The battle for hearts and minds isn't merely going on in Iraq, but all over this world. This is why my webmaster and I get most excited by all those site visits from overseas . . ..

Meanwhile, some articles that catch my eye:

"Regional Planning: U.S. to Present Revised Program for Democracy in Mideast; Skepticism Is Widespread," by Steven R. Weisman, New York Times, 13 May, p. A12.

"Economic Scene: Afghans come up with an aid plan of their own design," by Jeff Madrick, NYT, 13 May, p. C2.

"Pakistan's Uneasy Role in Terror War: Conciliatory Approach to Tribal and Foreign Fighters Leaves U.S. Officials Frustrated," by Pamela Constable, Washington Post, 8 May, p. A8.

"Muslims Avenge Christians' Attacks in Nigeria: Long-simmering ethnic and religious tensions explode," by AP, NYT, 13 May, p. A8.

"Op-Chart: Where the Jobs Are," by W. Michael Cox, Richard Alm and Nigel Holmes, NYT, 13 May, p. A27.

"Scientists Warn of a Visa 'Crisis,' " by Antonio Regalado, Wall Street Journal, 13 May, p. B4.

"What if 12 Million Californians Vanished?" by Miriam Jordan, WSJ, 13 May, p. B1.

"In Pacific, a Red Carpet For China's Rich Tourists," by James Brooke, NYT, 13 May, p. W1.