Senate says US mismanaged contractor money in Afghanistan

Washington, Oct. 8 (ANI): A bipartisan report, compiled by the U.S. Senate after a year-long investigation, documents a failure to properly vet, train and supervise Afghan security subcontractors, hired by U.S. and other international firms under multimillion-dollar military contracts.

According to the Washington Post, the report says the failure has cost American lives, undermined the U.S. mission and the Afghan government.

Sen. Carl M. Levin, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said this has "helped play into the hands of the enemy."

Committee staff reviewed over 25 Defense Department security contracts dated between 2007 and 2009 and provided a detailed account of two in which subcontractors had direct and well-known ties to the Taliban.

According to the U.S. Central Command, the report said, there were more than 112,000 Defense Department contractor personnel in Afghanistan as of April 30. As of May, more than 26,000 armed private security personnel - nearly all of them Afghans - worked for the Pentagon and other U.S. agencies.

Subcontracted Afghans provide perimeter security for U.S. forward operating bases, civilian installations and development projects, as well as for the truck convoys that carry most of the food, fuel, weapons and other supplies for the U.S.-led coalition. (ANI)