Tierney calls for Afghanistan truck supply investigation

PEABODY – Did a U.S. transportation company responsible for trucking supplies in Afghanistan hire Taliban soldiers as guards?U.S. Rep. John F. Tierney, chairman of the subcommittee on National Security and Foreign Affairs, said Wednesday he intends to find out.Tierney, a Salem Democrat, said the subcommittee will investigate the Department of Defense’s Afghan Host Nation Trucking contract and related logistics contracts. The Afghan Host Nation Trucking contract is a $2.16 billion agreement to provide transportation for a majority of U.S. goods and materials in Afghanistan.”Serious allegations have been brought to the subcommittee’s attention that private security providers for U.S. transportation contractors in Afghanistan are regularly paying local warlords and the Taliban for security,” Tierney said. “After a preliminary inquiry, it has been determined these reports warrant a full-scale subcommittee investigation. 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.”According to the congressman, the subcommittee has issued document requests to the Department of Defense and the principal Host Nation Trucking contractors “in order to gather more information regarding the operational security environment for U.S. contractors in Afghanistan.”Tierney said Congress is ultimately responsible for the men and women of America’s armed forces. “In the coming days, weeks and months the subcommittee will conduct a comprehensive investigation to get to the bottom of these allegations,” he said.The Afghan Host Nation Trucking contract is split among eight companies to provide ground transportation in Afghanistan for over 90 percent of Department of Defense goods and materials, including food, water, fuel, equipment and ammunition. Most supplies are shipped through Pakistan to Bagram Airfield and then distributed to several hundred U.S. camps, airfields, forward operating bases and firebases.