JohnP
12-12-2008, 12:12 PM
I stirred up a hornet's nest on my first thread. Let's see what I can do with this one. I read this article on the military.com web-site.
If you were the commander in charge, how would you handle the situation?
Some Convoys May Be Paying Off Taliban
December 12, 2008
Military.com
More than 300 supply-laden vehicles winding their way from Pakistan to U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan were destroyed in Taliban attacks just this month.
But not every convoy is being attacked, and a report by The Times of London claims that's because the Taliban has cut itself in for a piece of the action.
The Times is reporting that the multinational companies with the coalition contracts are subcontracting the work to local trucking companies which, in turn, hire Afghan security companies as escorts.
A number of these companies have begun paying Taliban forces for protection, according to the report. That meaning that millions of dollars is ending up in the hands of the Taliban, who are using it to fund their own operations against U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan.
“We estimate that approximately 25 per cent of the money we pay for security to get the fuel in goes into the pockets of the Taliban,” one fuel importer is quoted by the Times as saying.
The paper said the payments were confirmed by several fuel importers, trucking and security company owners, though none agreed to be named because of risk to their own companies and lives, it said.
The Times report comes even as NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer vowed Dec. 9 that NATO operations in Afghanistan would not be affected by attacks on the alliance's supply lines through Pakistan, The Associated Press reported today.
The militants "should not be under any illusion that they can disrupt the lines of communication, since we have alternatives," de Hoop Scheffer said.
Some 80 to 90 percent of the supplies for U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan pass through Pakistan's main port of Karachi and are trucked to Afghanistan, the AP reported. But NATO has been trying to find other routes into Afghanistan, including a northern, overland rail route via Russia and several Central Asian countries, according to the news service, which reports that Russia has agreed but negotiations are ongoing with Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.
If you were the commander in charge, how would you handle the situation?
Some Convoys May Be Paying Off Taliban
December 12, 2008
Military.com
More than 300 supply-laden vehicles winding their way from Pakistan to U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan were destroyed in Taliban attacks just this month.
But not every convoy is being attacked, and a report by The Times of London claims that's because the Taliban has cut itself in for a piece of the action.
The Times is reporting that the multinational companies with the coalition contracts are subcontracting the work to local trucking companies which, in turn, hire Afghan security companies as escorts.
A number of these companies have begun paying Taliban forces for protection, according to the report. That meaning that millions of dollars is ending up in the hands of the Taliban, who are using it to fund their own operations against U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan.
“We estimate that approximately 25 per cent of the money we pay for security to get the fuel in goes into the pockets of the Taliban,” one fuel importer is quoted by the Times as saying.
The paper said the payments were confirmed by several fuel importers, trucking and security company owners, though none agreed to be named because of risk to their own companies and lives, it said.
The Times report comes even as NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer vowed Dec. 9 that NATO operations in Afghanistan would not be affected by attacks on the alliance's supply lines through Pakistan, The Associated Press reported today.
The militants "should not be under any illusion that they can disrupt the lines of communication, since we have alternatives," de Hoop Scheffer said.
Some 80 to 90 percent of the supplies for U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan pass through Pakistan's main port of Karachi and are trucked to Afghanistan, the AP reported. But NATO has been trying to find other routes into Afghanistan, including a northern, overland rail route via Russia and several Central Asian countries, according to the news service, which reports that Russia has agreed but negotiations are ongoing with Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.