twoshuzz wrote:Thanks, JS. I missed the show in favor of a day out.
While the piece makes Mortenson look like, well, "a piece," I see much to question on both sides of the issue. From the 60 Minutes piece, from what I can see, the most damning evidence was his complete dismissal of 60 Min at the book signing. Also, the difference between his account in TCOT and his original article fail to inspire much faith as well. Most everything else is easily refutable.
Krakauer spoke to how many people about Mortenson ? One climbing partner and a couple of board members ? 60 min spoke to a group of Pakistanis who to no surprise denied they were members of the Taliban and denied "kidnapping" him ? Forgive me if I don't go all in on their word(s).
As for AIP, the points raised are not uncommon in how many charitable organizations are run. A few years back, the head of The Salvation Army came under fire for his $ 750,000 annual salary. How many millions do they spend on promotion ? I'm not saying it's right, just that it is what it is. Promoting his cause using the charity's monies is no sin. Yet the amount going out for promotion being much greater than that going to school construction does raise alarm, as does his use of charitable funds used to promote his books.
It is easy to fathom the misuse of schools built by CAI. With the instability of both Paki/Afi, the issue of womens' rights in their cultures, with their disdain for western culture, I would imagine Mortenson has little to no say in how the buildings are used once he walks away from completion. Again, forgive me if I don't go all in.
And then there is Krakauer, a journalist with "a history of smearing climbers" as EB said above. That history is undeniable. Just ask those close to "Toli." And there are countles others who would claim the same. I'm not saying Krakauer is necessarily wrong in his allegations, just that there is much room for dispute by Mortenson and that Krakauer has been wrong, in print, before.
An innocent question I believe worth asking: how much "literary license" has Krakauer himself taken over the years ?
Again, the piece shines an incredible amount of bad light on Mortenson. But to heavily invest in the 60 Min piece and Krakauer's claims given within the piece itself, I'd rather see more evidence than jump on that boat, for now.
While your other points are good, and I do think that Krakauer's characterizations could easily be way off, I don't agree with the statements about Krakauer made here. I read his book and Boukriev's. Krakauer didn't appear to me to be "wrong" about anything; they had different ideas about how a guide on Everest should deal with clients and it was just a pissing contest with nobody being wrong. Krakauer criticized what he thought Boukriev did wrong and praised him for what he did that was "above and beyond."