The U.S. military has only minimal knowledge of – and virtually no control over – the thousands of Afghans it pays to guard its operating bases and other installations, including “warlords and strongmen linked to murder, kidnapping, bribery,” as well as the Taliban, Senate investigators said in a blistering report released Thursday.
The bipartisan report, compiled after a year-long investigation by staff of the Senate Armed Services Committee, notes that the military has recently launched its own investigations of the situation and has taken steps to address it. Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan, has issued new contractor guidelines.
Full Story: Report: Afghan security contracts funding warlords, Taliban
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