Three Cups of Tea discussion

Who cares. The man is still a saint.

It's funny how people who claim to be a guy's friend will go on national television and call their 'friend' a liar and propagandist. Some of it just doesn't feel right. There are multiple factors that lead me to keep an open mind about this. I'm sure we'll be hearing a rebuttal from Mortenson soon.

So where did the 60 million go? Did he invest it in MADOFF`s scheme.
Interesting, because at the tail end of the book, it reports Mortensen as having refused the generals Pentagon secret funds. But yet he`s in league with Petraus. That doesn`t add up either. What could he possibly get out of Petraus? The truth is still not coming out.

The initial part of the story is of no importance. Nor the story of the Taliban. The crux of the matter is how the money was spent, are the schools in operation, are there actually 140 schools in full operation providing an education? The rest is pure fluff. That`s where the center of the argument should be.

If it were me being accused I would try my darndest to get the thing cleared up as soon as possible. This would include meeting with the reporters and getting their information clarified. I get the feeling he is dodging the accusations and avoiding to meet with them.
I get the feeling that he is not a total fraud, he has done some good. I think he has just exaggerated on the accomplishments and told some lies. In the finance part he probably is using money donated for himself.

Geoffrey wrote: "The initial part of the story is of no importance. Nor the story of the Taliban. The crux of the matter is how the money was spent, are the schools in operation, are there actually 140 schools in f..."

Totally agree, Geoffrey. I don't care whether there was some exaggeration in the stories of the book, I just care that the schools are working and that the funds haven't been mismanaged.

Glenn, good post. Yes, it seems a bit suspicious, but let`s wait until the smoke clears before we chase the gunslinger out of Dodge City.

I am a bit surprised that Obama gave $100,000 to the Institute. If this is true, I would suspect the prez`s gullibility quotient. But then again, let`s wait.

There has been a report that the schools were on vacation when visited by news staff. This is where it becomes tricky and let`s see how it play out. I, for one, want to follow this all the way through. I hope that if Mortensen is a bit of flim flam, I would say, IRS step in and order a complete audit for compliance under the 501 c 3 education clause and if there is fraud, yank it from M. and put in an honest board and honest director.. The project is too worthwhile to let go.

I think the IRS should audit Central Asia Institute thoroughly. This is another case of poor governmental regulation. Don`t we ever get tired of all this sloppy "government interference"?

First The Savings and Loan Crisis of 1986, then Enron, then the housing bubble, then Maddoff then this, and who knows how many more countless fraudelent schemes coming up on the horizon. Isn`t this what government regulation is supposed to be all about? To keep things like this from happening? And the Tea Party, bless their idiotic souls, are calling for less government regulation. Yeah, right, when there`s a fire in the forest, just douse it with gasoline.

Here's a pretty interesting take on the subject:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html...

Ron Judd met up with Mortenson a decade ago, before "Three Cups" came out, and wrote about him. Now he's feeling duped and angry. Well worth reading.

And he should be angry. He was duped. So were we. And so were so many contributors. But let`s find out all the facts, investigate his operation and correct the deficiencies, but take away his little toy if this is a dastardly as it seems.

Alyssa wrote: "this is one of the best I've read so far: http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles...
"

It was well-rounded & thoughtful ... nearly overshadows the "60 min" piece! Thanks Alyssa!

You know, all this makes me sad.

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/20...

But check out the above link--it seems to be a good article. And I will let my copy of Stones into Schools sit until I sort this out!

The link doesn`t work, Laura.

A few days ago the Montana attorney general’s office say that their investigation should be wrapped up within a month:

http://www.outsideonline.com/template...

Mortenson consented to a series of interviews that were completed a few hours before the 60 Minutes segment aired last April. With Outside’s editorial director, Alex Heard he backed away from the well-known CAI creation story that he, weak and exhausted, wandered into the village Korphe in 1993 after a failed attempt to climb K2. Mortenson now says that he was only in Korphe a few hours and that he didn’t make his school-building promise until a return visit one year later.

So the story that the book starts with and is the basis is an exageration made to make it sell. I find this disappointing. Mind you I had also questioned some of his acceptance by his "brothers" - acceptance to pray alongside so easily.

I saw this book in the Fiction section of a bookstore today.

Noah,

I wanted to push the idea of allowing user-contributed "fact" reviews (not just book reviews) for non-fiction books as a new Goodreads feature, but it didn't fly (comments Aug 24, 2011):

http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/5...

i hope more ppl wud support it

I continue to be saddened by this turn of events. I think the results of the investigation will be released soon.
http://helenair.com/news/local/state-...

Extract from LA Times: A lawsuit brought against "Three Cups of Tea" author Greg Mortenson and his charity the Central Asia Institute over its administration was settled Thursday. According to the terms of the agreement, Mortenson will stay with the charity and has three years to pay it $1 million of his own money as compensation for using charitable funds to promote and buy his books.
Here is the url
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/jacke...

Noah wrote: "I saw this book in the Fiction section of a bookstore today."

Your book seller is wise, Penguin continues to sell the Young Reader's Edition to children (Grade Level: 3 and up). I just shake my head.

The bottom line is how much of the moneys is actually going to the education of children. I think there are enough of us who are disgusted with spendthrift charities that have 20% bureaucratic costs. Fooey on United Way and their ilk. I prefer to give my moneys to UNICEF. At least I know that only 3% goes to the foundation bureaucrats.
Greg is padding his expenses with first class trips to his speaking engagements. These expenditures serve only to add to his self-delusion of messianic zeal. I hope IRS takes his organization over and turns it over to OXFAM, UNICEF or whomever that can be held more accountable for its expenses.

Disappointing if true.

I heard about this from a teacher! What happened!!!!!??????!!?!?!?!?

If we may pause and look away from Mortenson for a moment -- for those interested in girls' education in Afghanistan there are other groups working on the same plight:

http://www.washington.edu/alumni/colu...

I agree, lets look forward to where it is happening.

The story does not fully add up. Some thing is missing. Perhaps some one needs to cover up the whole truth. Perhaps its a cover up story? We need to know , because -

Looking forward, how can the people there ever trust another initiative like this again?!

I really thought the whole thing was fake when it first came out! it just did not seem believable to me!

Instead of a lot of hear-say, why not look for yourself. Here is the Central Asia Institute's web page. https://www.ikat.org/
The financials and the news releases are all posted.

19.5% for administration and fundraising is an incredibly high percentage for a non-profits expenditure on these two items. This is one of the cruxes of the criticism leveled at CAI. These are not good figures and rival the abysmally low UNITED WAY and RED CROSS figures, likewise non profits with very bad ratios. In contrast UNICEF has about 3% administrative costs, 97% go to recipients.

The other figure that is highly suspect, not in that it is false but that the same criticism can be leveled at it, namely that an inordinately high quantity of funds raised comes from individuals. This is a figure that Mortenson himself refers to in the second book. This is a red flag that major corporate donors, foundations and intergovernmental agencies themselves don`t feel the CAI gives the best bang for the buck.

I do believe he is doing a lot of good in Central Asia. But it comes at a high cost, namely that the organization is not well managed. I surmise that Mortensen has a martyr complex and loves the roar of the crowd. Every costly first class flight to an Amrican audience gives him an immense ego boost but these expenditures would be better spent on his projects.