“Three Cups of Tea” Claims Questioned by 60 Minutes Exposé

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Author: Mirin Fader

Greg Mortenson, best-selling author of “Three Cups of Tea” (2006), has sold more than four million copies of his book worldwide and has built over 140 schools for girls in Pakistan and Afghanistan through his nonprofit organization Central Asia Institute (CAI). Despite his humanitarian and literary successes, he currently faces accusations of fabrication regarding the work described in his book.

“Three Cups of Tea” chronicles Mortenson’s  attempt to climb K2, the world’s second highest peak on the border of Pakistan and China. After his failure, he wandered and eventually stumbled into the village of Korphe in 1993, where Pakistani villagers nursed him back to health. To repay them for their kind service, Mortenson vowed to return to Korphe to build a school there for local girls. Subsequently Mortenson established a foundation to fundraise for his cause and continue building schools.

The charges against Mortenson’s book surfaced on a CBS “60 Minutes” report on April 17. Jon Krakauer, best-selling author of “Into Thin Air” and former donor to Mortenson’s CAI, commented on the “60 Minutes” special. “[The book is] a beautiful story, and it’s a lie,” Krakauer said.

The first claim against Mortenson is the validity of his claim that he journeyed into the village of Korphe after failing to climb K2. According to CBS news reporter Steve Kroft, a close friend of Mortenson confessed that he’d never heard of Korphe until a year after the failed climbing attempt, which, if true, would undermine the central focus of the book: his plan to return and build a school for girls in the area.

The second claim questions Mortenson’s account of being kidnapped by the Taliban in Waziristan in 1996 for several days before being released. Mortenson alleged that one of the kidnappers was named Mansur Khan Mahsud.

According to CNN, Mahsud denies the accuracy of Mortenson’s description of the meeting. “[It’s] a pack of lies and not a single word of it is true,” Mahsud said, insisting instead that Mortenson was treated as an honorable guest and must have falsified his account to sell his book.

The third claim of the CBS special is that some of the schools Mortenson allegedly built do not exist or have been built by other people.

The CBS report also indicated that although the CAI had a 14 million dollars reported income in 2009, only 41 percent of that money was spent towards building schools in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The mission of the organization is ostensibly “To promote and support community-based education, especially for girls, in remote regions of northern Pakistan and Afghanistan,” according to the CAI website.

Mortenson has only spoken to two media outlets, the Bozeman Daily Chronicle and Outside, a magazine for outdoor enthusiasts.

In a phone interview with the Bozeman Daily Chronicle, Mortenson said, “I hope these allegations and attacks, the people doing these things, know this could be devastating for tens and thousands of girls, for the sake of Nielsen ratings and Emmys.”

“I stand by the information conveyed in my book and by the value of CAI’s work in empowering local communities to build and operate schools that have educated more than 60,000 students,” he said.

In response to the kidnapping claims, Mortenson told Outside that his account is pretty much accurate. “Now, as to whether they were Taliban or not? All I know is that I was in the area where the Taliban had originated. They didn’t call themselves ‘Taliban,’ and maybe they were and maybe they weren’t. But I was definitely detained against my will.” Mortenson said.

When asked about the CAI’s spending allegations, Mortenson told Outside that, though it is true that 41 percent of the money has been spent towards building schools, the rest of the money was spent towards promoting and building the schools in other ways.

“Much of the remainder was spent on CAI’s other charitable programs, which include domestic outreach education about the need for the schools. Our education mission includes both educating young people in Pakistan and Afghan and educating the American public about how promoting education in these countries contributes to peace,” Mortenson said.

Mortenson also wrote a “Message to Supporters” on the CAI website. “I welcome and am used to facing criticism over the important work we do in Pakistan and Afghanistan. The story being framed by ‘60 Minutes’ paints a distorted picture using inaccurate information,” he said.

Mortenson addressed the claim regarding the existence of certain schools and the CAI’s spending towards those schools by noting that in 2011, the CAI has already planned and begun work to build 63 to 68 more schools based on the donations from 2009-10.

New York Times Op-Ed columnist Nicholas Kristof vouched for the existence of Mortenson’s schools in his article titled “‘Three cups of tea,’ Spilled” on April 20.

“I’ve visited some of Greg’s schools in Afghanistan, and what I saw worked. Girls in his schools were thrilled to be getting an education. These schools felt like some of the happiest places in Afghanistan,” Kristof said. “I’m willing to give some benefit of the doubt to a man who has risked his life on behalf of some of the world’s most voiceless people.”

Mortenson remains committed to his cause of empowering youth through education.

In the article in Outside, Mortenson stated, “Regardless of what happens to me or my credibility, our work and mission to serve the children of Pakistan and Afghan will go on.”

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