Private Security Contractors in Afghanistan Fueling the Taliban, Senate Report Concludes (Scott Horton)

Oct. 27, 2010 (Harpers) -- The American decision to rely more heavily on contractors and to downplay the use of uniformed military in Afghanistan has led to a sharp detour in the process of nation-building, a Senate Armed Services Committee report (PDF) has concluded. To meet their security concerns, the contractors have turned to “warlords and strongmen linked to murder, kidnapping [and] bribery.” The report also documents incidents in which contractors have tendered payments to the Taliban.

In her summary of the report for the Washington Post, Karen DeYoung presents an almost surreal case study:

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