The following is an excerpt from Philadelphia Inquirer syndicated columnist, Trudy Rubin, on her recent December 2007 visit with Greg Mortenson and Central Asia Institute in Pakistan.
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Worldview: The Lesson Jihadis Fear
In remote Pakistan , Greg Mortenson is besting extremists by building schools.
By Trudy Rubin
Pakistan has made news lately as the world's most dangerous country: a nuclear-armed state that has become a base for al-Qaeda, the Taliban and other fanatic Islamists.
But on my trip there last month, I saw an antidote to this nightmare, a route out of this trap - if Pakistan 's government and the West would only seize it. I traveled to mountain villages with Greg Mortenson, a former mountain climber who has built fifty five schools in Pakistan , and eight in Afghanistan .
Mortenson got lost 15 years ago descending from K2 , and promised to build a school for the villagers who rescued and nursed him. His formula for countering extremism is summed up in the title of his best-selling book: Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time.
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