Posted on 04/17/2011 12:36:22 PM PDT by KantianBurke
An investigation by “60 Minutes” casts doubt on the accuracy of the inspirational bestseller “Three Cups of Tea” by Greg Mortenson, saying it is filled with inaccuracies. It also says that Mr. Mortenson’s charitable organization, the Central Asia Institute, has taken credit for building schools that don’t exist.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Never heard of this Mortenson guy or his book. Looks like the 60 mins airing will give his book a boost in sales though. People will want to read and see the lie themselves. Glad he is exposed for a fraud though.
Ar article last year said that a number of top US generals were influenced by the book after hearing about it from their wives.
I'll stick with Mortenson’s version of events until someone more credible comes along to dispute his story.
The book explains how Mortenson collaborated with local Pakistan tribal leaders to build schools, taking very little credit for himself.
And make no mistake about it, the Taliban hates what he is doing. Imams were issuing fatwas, and he was receiving death threats because he was building schools that would educate girls.
However, he was cynical about the WOT and had some stinging comments about Rumsfeld. Even though Mortenson despises the Taliban he doesn't give credit to Rumsfeld or Bush for toppling them.
Don't know who would be behind the effort to discredit Mortenson. It could be that some of his claims may be false (though, like I said, he has DEFINITELY built MANY schools). But 60 Minutes is no bastion of integrity...and extreme Islam doesn't like Mortenson and could be pushing this agenda.
Mrs Drango and I both read the book. It’s a good read. (Fake but accurate??? Well, it’s a good read. No judgement on the accuracy.)
60 minutes is calling someone else a liar? That’s rich.
Three Cups Of Tea is well worth the read. Greg Mortensen has managed to do a lot of good in a very needy area. Building schools is quite unpopular with the Taliban. The New York Slimes has ZERO credibility with me.
BTW, 60 Minutes has even less credibility than NYT. If even half of what Mortensen writes is true, he has done more to advance the cause of peace and truth than any detractor.
Mortenson started out as an apolitical person, but, as those who are underinformed often do, his emotional reaction was to be generally liberal in his thinking. Consequently, there was some anti-Bush/Rumsfeld in the book. But it was too cartoonish to be taken seriously.
The guy is a doer...he got things done. A rather remarkable person.
They called “60 Minutes.” Shows like that get hundreds of such calls per week. Some associate producer said “Send us written documentation.” About 5 percent of callers do.
The AP made a few phone calls, and the story started to stand up.
Every network has “Our Man In Calcutta, Cairo, Buenos Aires, etc.” 60 Minutes sent their guy in Karachi to check it out.... and it still stood up.
An assignment meeting was held and field producer was assigned to do the story....
A few months later, this is the result.
So is Al Gore, Obama, Kerry and many other other fools.
Greg M. has done a few good things, though - unlike Obama and Kerry.
'60 Minutes' investigates 'Three Cups of Tea' author Greg Mortenson
From the article...
The report, which airs Sunday night on CBS television, cites Into the Wild author Jon Krakauer as among the doubters of Mortenson’s story of being lost in rural Pakistan and stumbling upon the village of Korphe, where the kindness of local residents inspired him to build a school...
Don’t forget...we are dealing with SIXTY MINUTES and the NEW YOUR TIMES here...neither organization has a reputation for truth telling.
“Never piss off people who know people who by ink by the barrel or electricity by the megawatt!”
:)
From the Bozeman paper:
“He denied several “60 Minutes” allegations, and defended his financial dealings, but appeared to concede that one key story in his book was not literally true.
The investigation by correspondent Steve Kroft, to be broadcast Sunday night, quotes “Into Thin Air” author and mountaineer Jon Krakauer as saying he learned from one of Mortenson’s companions that the tale of how Mortenson got started was “a beautiful story” but “a lie.”
The book told how Mortenson got lost on a 1993 climb of K2, the world’s second highest peak, and then stumbled exhausted into the remote village of Korphe, was cared for by villagers, and promised to return and build a school.
“I stand by the story of ‘Three Cups of Tea,’” Mortenson said in a written statement, but added, “The time about our final days on K2 and ongoing journey to Korphe village and Skardu is a compressed version of events that took place in the fall of 1993.
“As the co-author of the book, along with David Oliver Relin, I am responsible for the content in the book. There were many people involved in the story and also those who produced the manuscript. What was done was to simplify the sequence of events for the purposes of telling what was, at times, a complicated story.”
Translation of Morrsion’s statement into simple English: “I lied.”
Sounds like probably a combination of truth & lies.
If the guy built only ONE school, he deserves credit.
A daft exercise at best.
My quote:
Greg Morntenson is overly revered here in Bozeman, MT.
So is Al Gore, Obama, Kerry and many other other fools.
OVERLY is key here.
FOOL is key here, too.
Mortenson has done a few things, though - more than the above named miscreants.
Thanks for your post.
I am so very much more enlightened.
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