‘US money in Afghanistan lands up in the hands of Taliban’

The report released yesterday says funds spent to protect US convoys in Afghanistan were being funneled to the Taliban and other warlords.

Private security subcontractors paid to transport US supplies across the country are buying off local strongmen along the main highway to avoid being attacked,the report argues,strengthening warlords who are inimical to a strong Afghan government.

“The findings of this report range from sobering to shocking,” said Congressman Tierney.

“In short,the Department of Defense designed a contract that put responsibility for the security of vital US supplies on contractors and their unaccountable security providers,” he wrote.

“This arrangement has fueled a vast protection racket run by a shadowy network of warlords,strongmen,commanders,corrupt Afghan officials,and perhaps others. Not only does the system run afoul of the Department’s own rules and regulations mandated by Congress,it also appears to risk undermining the US strategy for achieving its goals in Afghanistan,” he said.

After a six-month investigation,the report exposes the circumstances surrounding the Department of Defense’s outsourcing of security on the supply chain in Afghanistan to questionable providers,including warlords,it said.

The report said,the evidence indicates that little attention was given to the cost-benefit analysis of allowing the system to continue in a fashion that injected a good portion of a USD 2.16 billion contract’s resources into a corruptive environment.

The ‘fog of war’ still requires a direct line of sight on contractors,it said.

According to the report,the principal private security subcontractors on the HNT contract (the main contractor) are warlords,strongmen,commanders,and militia leaders who compete with the Afghan central government for power and authority.

Providing “protection” services for the US supply chain empowers these warlords with money,legitimacy,and a raison d’etre for their private armies.

Although many of these warlords nominally operate under private security companies licensed by the Afghan Ministry of Interior,they thrive in a vacuum of government authority and their interests are in fundamental conflict with US aims to build a strong Afghan government,the report said.

The report said the HNT contractors and their trucking subcontractors in Afghanistan pay tens of millions of dollars annually to local warlords across Afghanistan in exchange for “protection” for HNT supply convoys to support US troops.

Although the warlords do provide guards and coordinate security,the contractors have little choice but to use them in what amounts to a vast protection racket.

The consequences are clear: trucking companies that pay the highway warlords for security are provided protection; trucking companies that do not pay believe they are more likely to find themselves under attack.

As a result,almost everyone pays. In interviews and documents,the HNT contractors frequently referred to such payments as “extortion,” “bribes,” “special security,” and/or “protection payments,” it said.

According to the report,within the HNT contractor community,many believe that the highway warlords who provide security in turn make protection payments to insurgents to coordinate safe passage.

“This belief is evidenced in numerous documents,incident reports,and e-mails that refer to attempts at Taliban extortion along the road,” it said.

However,the report said the Subcommittee staff has not uncovered any direct evidence of such payments and a number of witnesses,including Ahmed Wali Karzai,all adamantly deny that any convoy security commanders pay insurgents.

According to experts and public reporting,however,the Taliban regularly extort rents from a variety of licit and illicit industries,and it is plausible that the Taliban would try to extort protection payments from the coalition supply chain that runs through territory in which they freely operate,it said.

The Congressional report said the largest private security provider for HNT trucks complained that it had to pay USD 1,000 to USD 10,000 in monthly bribes to nearly every Afghan governor,police chief,and local military unit whose territory the company passed.

The contractors themselves reported similar corruption at a smaller scale,including significant numbers of Afghan National Police checkpoints.

“US military officials confirmed that they were aware of these problems,” it said.