Pentagon money could be funding insurgents

So could much of the taxpayer money Obama is wasting in places like Hamas-terrorist controlled Gaza, Pakistan, Egypt, Yemen and other Islamic-terrorist breeding grounds. via Military Times.

WASHINGTON — Criminal investigators are examining allegations that Afghan security firms have been extorting as much as $4 million a week from contractors paid with U.S. tax dollars and then funneling the spoils to warlords and the Taliban.

If the allegations are true, the U.S. would be unintentionally financing the enemy and undermining international efforts to stabilize the country.

The payments reportedly end up in insurgent hands through a $2.1 billion Pentagon contract to transport food, water, fuel and ammunition to American troops stationed at bases across Afghanistan. To ensure safe passage through dangerous areas, the trucking companies make payments to local security firms with ties to the Taliban or warlords who control the roads. If the payments aren’t made, the convoys will be attacked, according to a U.S. military document detailing the allegations being examined by investigators.

The document says the companies hired under the Afghan Host Nation Trucking contract may be paying between $2 million and $4 million a week to insurgent groups.

Chris Grey, a spokesman for the Army Criminal Investigation Command at Fort Belvoir, Va., confirmed Monday that the inquiry is under way. But he said he would not provide details in order “to protect the integrity of the ongoing case.”

One of the firms under scrutiny is Watan Risk Management, one of the largest security providers in Afghanistan and owned by two cousins of Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

Watan representatives allegedly negotiate or dictate the price for security in a given area, according to the document, and also issue warnings to trucking companies that are late in paying or refuse to do so.

Mob-style. Related: U.S. Gave Millions to Charity Linked to al Qaeda, Anwar Awlaki