"Three Cups of Tea" advice for Obama.

[amerikat]

Nonprofit activist Greg Mortenson, co-author of the 2006 international best-seller "Three Cups of Tea," knows firsthand about the challenges of nation-building in Afghanistan, and he’s got some advice for the Obama administration: Open your ears more to the locals, or risk shooting yourselves in the boots.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34238313/ns/us_news-giving/

[Pirate Smile]

1. Here is his twitter feed.

http://twitter.com/gregmortenson

[amerikat]

2. Thanks for that link.

Bookmarked.

[amborin]

3. he was a contender for the Nobel Peace Prize!

and this book was on the required reading list at West Point!

[amerikat]

5. I hope Obama has read it.(nt)

[bullwinkle428]

4. Thom Hartmann is a big advocate of Mortenson and his approach

to diplomacy and fostering understanding.

[Jakes Progress]

6. No one in Washington will listen to Mortenson.

I mean, what corporate boards does he CEO? Which Wall Street theft ring does he represent? He doesn't even control enough money to be qualified for a billion dollar bail out.

Oh, He's good for a press reference or it can look good to say you read his book, but really listen to? Fat chance.

[amerikat]

7. I'm trying to stay positive......difficult as it is these days.

I still believe a single human can launch a peaceful revolution.
Gandhi is a good example of this.

Edit to add: The fact that it is required reading at West Point
is very encouraging>

[Jakes Progress]

8. A very admirable goal.

I try to do the same. I can usually make it until about lunch. If I stay away from news and DU, I can get further.

It is truly something I wish i were better at. Positive is better than negative. It is a goal of mine.

[amerikat]

9. So I will count you as a fellow traveler.

Thank you Jakes Progress. Many hands make lite the work. :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :hi:

[elehhhhna]

14. see, ya can't skim off helping them build their own schools like

you can when KBR has the contract, so his approach is not capitalism-friendly.

[niyad]

10. I believe his new book was released yesterday

Stones into Schools: Promoting Peace with Books, Not Bombs, in Afghanistan and Pakistan

that should definitely be required reading.

I had the pleasure of meeting him several years ago when he spoke at my college-- very gracious, very warm and loving.

[zbdent]

11. did you call in to Bill Press this morning?

this topic came up ...

[KittyWampus]

12. Highly recommended

[NightWatcher]

13. for the price of one soldier for one year (1 mil+) we could build 20 schools

build them schools, hospitals, and even a freaking Disneyland. Give them something to live for instead of causes to die for.

[eleny]

15. K&R for Mortenson

He was just on Andrea Mitchell's show talking about this.

I can hardly wait to get his new book. He knows the score.

[pberq]

16. Something positive about Afghanistan

Here's another article:

http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/1204/p07s01-wome.html

Key to Afghan crisis: tea and education
Greg Mortenson, author of 'Three Cups of Tea,' says success lies in building trust and schools in rural Afghanistan.
By Todd Wilkinson | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor

from the December 4, 2009 edition

. . .Adm. Mike Mullen, President Obama's handpicked chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, found a copy of "Three Cups of Tea" awaiting him on his nightstand. It had been placed there by his wife, Deborah. "Three Cups of Tea" also reached the hands of Gen. David Petraeus, leader of the US Central Command, and Gen. Stanley McChrystal, who recently requested 40,000 additional troops. It is required reading for US officers in the region.

Mullen and Petraeus summoned Mortenson to meetings at the Pentagon, and he used maps to give them a virtual tour of the country, pointing out some areas that have been virtually impenetrable to US ground forces, telling them the names of shuras and mullahs they needed to contact.

"Many of the elders I know are really angry at the Americans," Mortenson says. "It has less to do with our presence and more to do with the huge outcries caused by drones and bombers attacking suspected Taliban hangouts but killing a lot of innocent people."

The shuras said that even though they welcome eradication of terrorists, they can never countenance what the Bush administration dubbed "collateral damage."

. . .

[riderinthestorm]

17. Does anyone know how many of these schools have since been destroyed by the Taliban?

I don't mean to be a downer but realistically, educating the children in these areas is getting harder, not easier. The schools are getting blown up regularly, and the girls especially are becoming easy targets on their way to their schools. They are in severe danger trying to walk down the road because of their end destination: school.

I understand Greg Mortenson wants to promote social programs vs. bombs as a way to reach the Afghanis but even that way is being thwarted by local hardliners.

The culture itself is so backwards I'm not sure how anyone, even Greg Mortenson, can claim success. Sure, short term success. Construction finished. School started. Then the local shitheads move in and demolish it all.

[pberq]

18. Just one of Mortensen's schools has been attacked

You may want to read the entire article - it's really amazing what he's doing. Here's the quote that addresses your question:

http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/1204/p07s01-wome.html

. . .What mystified Mullen was how Mortenson was able to build schools in places where the US has suffered its stiffest resistance and casualties. Just one of Mortenson's schools has been attacked by the Taliban at a time when fundamentalists opposed to women's empowerment have violently tried to thwart girls' education.

[DesertRat]

19. Incredible book.

k&r