[jabader]

There is not a lot of named people in this article, the "official" sources are almost completely anonymous- although they do qualify as whistle blowers for what they said which justifies their anonymouty- Nevertheless, I don't see why this is entirely implausible given the situation there:

Rule of the Gun - Convoy Guards in Afghanistan Face an Inquiry - NYTimes.com

Guards in Afghanistan Face an Inquiry

MAIDAN SHAHR, Afghanistan — For months, reports have abounded here that the Afghan mercenaries who escort American and other NATO convoys through the badlands have been bribing Taliban insurgents to let them pass.

Then came a series of events last month that suggested all-out collusion with the insurgents.
After a pair of bloody confrontations with Afghan civilians, two of the biggest private security companies — Watan Risk Management and Compass Security — were banned from escorting NATO convoys on the highway between Kabul and Kandahar.

The ban took effect on May 14. At 10:30 a.m. that day, a NATO supply convoy rolling through the area came under attack. An Afghan driver and a soldier were killed, and a truck was overturned and burned. Within two weeks, with more than 1,000 trucks sitting stalled on the highway, the Afghan government granted Watan and Compass permission to resume.

...

Although the investigation is not complete, the officials suspect that at least some of these security companies — many of which have ties to top Afghan officials — are using American money to bribe the Taliban. The officials suspect that the security companies may also engage in fake fighting to increase the sense of risk on the roads, and that they may sometimes stage attacks against competitors.

...

One of the more notorious commanders of a private security outfit is an Afghan named Ruhullah, who, like many Afghans, goes by one name. Mr. Ruhullah controls a company called Commando Security, which escorts convoys between Kandahar and Helmand Province to the west. While he is suspected of striking deals with some Taliban fighters, Mr. Ruhullah is known to have dealt brutally with those — civilians or insurgents — who have impeded the flow of his trucks.

“He’s laid waste to entire villages,” said an official at the Interior Ministry who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Many of the private security companies, including the one owned by Mr. Ruhullah, appear to be under the influence of Ahmed Wali Karzai, a brother of President Karzai and the chairman of the Kandahar Provincial Council. Though nominally an American ally, Ahmed Wali Karzai has surfaced in numerous intelligence and law enforcement reports connecting him to Afghanistan’s booming opium trade.

...

The NATO official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the Popals, the nominal owners of Watan Risk Management, cooperate with Ahmed Wali Karzai and Mr. Ruhullah. “They are very, very close,” he said.

American and Afghan officials said that Ahmed Wali Karzai was moving rapidly to bring the 23 unregistered security companies in Kandahar under his own control. With the government’s support, Ahmed Wali Karzai, together with Mr. Ruhullah, plan to form an umbrella company, called the Kandahar Security Force, that will broker business for the various individual companies, a senior NATO official said.

...

An Afghan official in Maidan Shahr, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that there were strong suspicions in the Afghan government that Watan pays the Taliban, and that the company acts brutally to deal with threats to its business.

“Watan’s people may have staged the attack themselves,” he said.
Although just one of the many aspect of the issue presented in the article- You gotta love capitalism- now the merc on our payroll in Afghanistan are bribing the Taliban to stage attacks against us in order to get the merc company more contracts! Stage an attack drama of good vs evil upon those who paid you the money to defend them in the first place.... profit! Terrorists and Merc company colluding to milk the American tax payer's gold. What a great business plan! My guess is Dick Cheney and Rumsfeld didn't see that one coming.

[NEronchik]

There is not a lot of named people in this article, the "official" sources are almost completely anonymous- although they do qualify as whistle blowers for what they said which justifies their anonymouty- Nevertheless, I don't see why this is entirely implausible given the situation there:

Rule of the Gun - Convoy Guards in Afghanistan Face an Inquiry - NYTimes.com



Although just one of the many aspect of the issue presented in the article- You gotta love capitalism- now the merc on our payroll in Afghanistan are bribing the Taliban to stage attacks against us in order to get the merc company more contracts! Stage an attack drama of good vs evil upon those who paid you the money to defend them in the first place.... profit! Terrorists and Merc company colluding to milk the American tax payer's gold. What a great business plan! My guess is Dick Cheney and Rumsfeld didn't see that one coming.

My guess is that wouldn't give a fuck, given their collective record of craven venality.

[MrGunjMan_]

And then the Taliban takes that money and buys weapons from the Russians or from Iran or China.

No wonder the Taliban are getting stronger,.... its the American Mercs funding them. Now it makes sense!! LOL

Ok you've done your job, you've put a brutal dictator in place... isnt it time you guys left Afghanistan? You pay corrupt mercs, you pay Karzai's brother (another dictator) ... you paid Mr Ruhullah.... you paid the Taliban.... NOW its time you get the **** out of Afghanistan. You are contibuting to the problem directly. Funding Terrorism!!

WS.

[MightyMasc]

Or, we could send more troops and kill the Taliban.

Or learn from the losses in Iraq and Afghanistan, and develop the Quad Tilt Rotor, and retire the ground convoy to the dustbin of history.

[HQTheodore]

Or, we could send more troops and kill the Taliban.

Or learn from the losses in Iraq and Afghanistan, and develop the Quad Tilt Rotor, and retire the ground convoy to the dustbin of history.

Or we could wait for the Giant Space Weasels to come and kill the Taliban with their laser-eyes!

[PemiaGefe]

Or we could wait for the Giant Space Weasels to come and kill the Taliban with their laser-eyes!

That hasn't worked for Obama yet.

[robstamps]

Wow, you just can't trust Afghan gunmen anymore.

[Fegasderty]

Or, we could send more troops and kill the Taliban.

Or learn from the losses in Iraq and Afghanistan, and develop the Quad Tilt Rotor, and retire the ground convoy to the dustbin of history.

But that would be interfering with the free market. Merc companies have the Constitutional right to their businesses and make money, free from government intervention. If we kill the Talibans or replace convoys with choppers, we are using the "big government" to eliminating their business opportunities. This is a complete violation of "Libertarian" principles, and all Tea Party must be up in their arms in full support of hiring Mercs so they can fund terrorism with our money in order to come back and kill us!

[Meowmeowz]

But that would be interfering with the free market. Merc companies have the Constitutional right to their businesses and make money, free from government intervention. If we kill the Talibans or replace convoys with choppers, we are using the "big government" to eliminating their business opportunities. This is a complete violation of "Libertarian" principles, and all Tea Party must be up in their arms in full support of hiring Mercs so they can fund terrorism with our money in order to come back and kill us!

In a free market, we, as the consumer, also have the right to refrain from seeking the services of mercenaries.

[Mappaindy]

Wow, you just can't trust Afghan gunmen anymore.

Watan Risk Management is run by some ex-British military.

Compass Security is Swiss based.

they do subcontract Afghan gunmen on the ground, but the key decisions, such as bribing the Taliban, is made up at the top.

[Annyllop21]

In a free market, we, as the consumer, also have the right to refrain from seeking the services of mercenaries.

That does not change the fact that the DoD should not use its own means to eliminate the Taliban, or use its own technologies to rob potential businesses from the private merc companies. Both of these are violations of the free market by the state. The merc companies have the right to make money and to bribe terrorists so they can use our money to kill us. That's guaranteed by the constitution.

[Nypbscao]

That does not change the fact that the DoD should not use its own means to eliminate the Taliban, or use its own technologies to rob potential businesses from the private merc companies. Both of these are violations of the free market by the state. The merc companies have the right to make money and to bribe terrorists so they can use our money to kill us. That's guaranteed by the constitution.

I'm not sure which is funnier, your ignorance of libertarians, or your ignorance of the tea party.

[BonjGopu]

I'm not sure which is funnier, your ignorance of libertarians, or your ignorance of the tea party.

I'll tell you. It's the ignorance of libertarians, and the ignorance of the tea party. Those are pretty funny.

[t78VPkdO]

I'll tell you. It's the ignorance of libertarians, and the ignorance of the tea party. Those are pretty funny.

Given the solutions coming from the other side, it's not the tea party or the libertarians that have an ignorance problem.

[Waymninelia]

Given the solutions coming from the other side, it's not the tea party or the libertarians that have an ignorance problem.

IIRC, it was the neocons who started hiring merc for their wars.

[machpamb]

IIRC, it was the neocons who started hiring merc for their wars.

Ding ding ding, we have a winner, the neocons aren't the tea party folks and they sure aren't libertarians.

[gSjQEEmq]

Ding ding ding, we have a winner, the neocons aren't the tea party folks and they sure aren't libertarians.

Care to make some precise distinctions in this context?

I thought neocons are advocates of free market, and don't like "big government". You mean they are not? Are they some kind of communist?

[Henldyhl]

Care to make some precise distinctions in this context?

I thought neocons are advocates of free market, and don't like "big government". You mean they are not? Are they some kind of communist?

Neocons support direct interference in politics and economics to support liberalism, democracy, and human rights. (Funny isn't it?)

Neocons are certainly willing to spend money and blood to further their goals, those are not explicitly the goals, motives and tools of the tea party folk and libertarians.

[vaalmerruutel]

Neocons support direct interference in politics and economics to support liberalism, democracy, and human rights. (Funny isn't it?)

Support liberalism, democracy and human rights? There is absolutely zero empirical evidence for that.

[Honealals]

Neocons support direct interference in politics and economics to support liberalism, democracy, and human rights. (Funny isn't it?)

Neocons are certainly willing to spend money and blood to further their goals, those are not explicitly the goals, motives and tools of the tea party folk and libertarians.

So if it were up to the tea party and the libertarians, they would have never hired any merc in the first place?