Report: U.S. hires Afghan warlords

WASHINGTON (AP) - Heavy U.S. reliance on private security in Afghanistan has helped to line the pockets of the Taliban because contractors often don't vet local recruits and wind up hiring warlords and thugs, Senate investigators said Thursday.

The finding, in a report by the Senate Armed Services Committee, follows a separate congressional inquiry in June that concluded trucking contractors pay tens of millions of dollars a year to local warlords for convoy protection.

Sen. Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate panel, said he is worried the U.S. is unknowingly fostering the growth of Taliban-linked militias at a time when Kabul is struggling to recruit its own soldiers and police officers.

"We need to shut off the spigot of U.S. dollars flowing into the pockets of warlords and power brokers who act contrary to our interests and contribute to the corruption that weakens the support of the Afghan people for their government," Levin said.