InfoAnda - Congress Questions Defense Department About Bribes to Afghan Insurgents

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Home U.S. World Entertainment Sports Business Health Science Technology Politics Offbeat Environment Travel News Articles Congress Questions Defense Department About Bribes to Afghan Insurgents Email Facebook Digg Twitter Buzz Up! ShareThis June 22, 2010 6:13 p.m. EST Topics: politics, defense, international military intervention, armed conflict, unrest, conflicts and war, armed forces, war, United States Tom Ramstack - AHN News Correspondent Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) - A congressional panel questioned top Defense Department officials Tuesday about why U.S. government money is going to Afghan warlords and corrupt public officials to protect supply trucks. Indirectly, part of the $2.1 billion in money to pay contractors is helping to fund the resistance movement against the United States and Afghan governments, according to a report released this week. The 79-page report comes as U.S. casualties in Afghanistan are rising, public support for the war is falling and progress against Taliban insurgents is slow. President Obama said in December he would send another 30,000 troops to Afghanistan to help the government gain control over the violence but begin withdrawing American soldiers in July 2011. Bribes by contractors violate Defense Department regulations and “dramatically undermine” U.S. efforts to stabilize the Afghan government, the report prepared by congressional staff said. “This is no easy task,” Brigadier General John Nicholson, the Defense Department’s director of the Pakistan/Afghanistan coordination cell, told members of Congress about the military’s efforts to monitor the integrity of contractors who provide them with supplies. The U.S. military in Afghanistan relies upon eight prime contractors to provide them with supplies, according to the Defense Department. Together, the contractors make about 8,000 truck trips per month to military installations. Most of the contractors are Afghanis. Their trucks often must travel through city streets and rural roads where attacks by insurgents and roadside bombs are a constant threat. Occasionally, the U.S. military supplies the truck convoys with armed escorts. Just as often, they travel alone, said witnesses at the hearing of the national security subcommittee of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Bribes by contractors to warlords and corrupt public officials can give them safe passage when they are outgunned. Using contractors instead of U.S. military personnel to run the trucks “reduces the risk for our service men and women,” provides jobs for local residents and helps the Afghan economy, General Nicholson said. Like other Defense Department officials, he said he was unaware of the extent of the bribes until congressional staff members compiled their report. He also pledged to prevent warlords and Taliban insurgents from continuing to get the money. “Our intent not to provide any aid or assistance to the enemy is very clear,” General Nicholson said. Several subcommittee members asked why the military failed to notice or stop the bribes earlier. “To say it’s not occurring, we don’t see it, that seems a little too much to hear,” said Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.). Lieutenant General William Phillips, who oversees supplies and contractors for the Army, said U.S. military personnel had little personal contact with contractors. “Very rarely do they go out of the fence line,” Phillips said about the U.S. soldiers. Most of the contact between U.S. forces and contractors comes from the escorts American soldiers provide to truck convoys carrying heavy military equipment. Less than 30 percent of the trucks carrying routine supplies get military escorts. “They provide their own security,” Phillips said. One option being considered by the U.S. military to prevent bribes to warlords is to provide air or ground support for supply convoys more often. “You can request support but it’s not normally part of the package,” said Gary Motsek, assistant deputy undersecretary of defense. Rep. John Tierney (D-Mass.), chairman of the national security subcommittee wrote an introduction to the report that said, “The findings of this report range from sobering to shocking.” The report is called, “Warlord, Inc., Extortion and Corruption Along the U.S. Supply Chain in Afghanistan.” Copyright © 2003 - 2010 AHN - All rights reserved.Redistribution, republication. syndication, rewriting or broadcast is prohibited without the prior written consent of AHN.License AHN news for your website, business, digital signage network or publication. 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