Posted on 03/26/2004 11:42:03 AM PST by El Conservador
NEW YORK (AFP) - A book that charges President George W. Bush (news - web sites) with failing to take al-Qaeda seriously enough before the September 11 attacks has shot to the top of the bestseller lists on a wave of hype and controversy.
Since going on sale Monday, "Against All Enemies: Inside America's War on Terror" has gone through six printings as the publisher, the Free Press -- an imprint of Simon and Schuster -- has struggled to keep up with demand.
Written by Richard Clarke, a counterterrorism adviser to the past three presidents, including Bush, the book says the current administration failed to heed warnings of the September 11, 2001 attacks, and then focused its attention on Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) rather than al-Qaeda.
The charges have prompted an aggressive response from the White House, amid apparent concerns that they could undermine the president's re-election bid in November.
A Free Press spokeswoman said there were currently 550,000 copies in print -- a huge figure for a political non-fiction work.
The publisher had brought forward the book's release by a week to take advantage of Clarke's appearance Sunday on the prime-time news show "60 Minutes" and his testimony Wednesday before the commission investigating the September 11 attacks.
As of Friday, "Against All Enemies" was at the top of the Amazon.com bestseller list, while the US book chain Borders said it was the company's number-one title for the week.
"We took a very strong stock position, so have been able to keep up with the demand based on the stock we have already in our pipeline," said Borders spokeswoman Jenie Dahlmann.
"The appearance on '60 Minutes,' and then the fact that he was testifying mid-week before the 9/11 commission, really made it critical for us to take a strong stand on the book," Dahlmann aid.
You've spotlighted the very point that bothers me.
The guy gave me the impression that he considers himself to be never wrong. And that's a very bad characteristic for someone in the position he held.
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