US may be 'funding the very insurgents we are trying to fight'

--Congress investigating charges of 'protection racket' by Afghanistan contractors 17 Dec 2009 A House oversight subcommittee said Wednesday that it has begun a wide-ranging investigation into allegations that private security companies mercenaries hired to protect Defense Department convoys in Afghanistan are paying off warlords and the Taliban to ensure safe passage. "If shown to be true, it would mean that the United States is unintentionally engaged in a vast protection racket and, as such, may be indirectly funding the very insurgents we are trying to fight," said Rep. John F. Tierney (D-Mass.), chair