Great article in the Army News Wire on this topic!  I caught some of the testimony on the Pentagon channel.  The crux of the issue is how to stop Taliban and other elements from demanding money and bribing contracted convoys that carry supplies into Afghanistan.  In addition, how do we protect those convoys?  Currently, it is with private armed security contractors much of the time. 

Although there are many great contracting companies out there, we ideally would like to have the Afghan National Army do the escorting and at times the U.S. or NATO forces.  Also, how do conduct contractor oversight?  Although the U.S. Army has contrating officer representatives (COR's) that oversee these contracts, they often are stationed on the Forward Operating Bases (FOB's) and don't get out on the road to see where the corruption or fradulent contracting activity may take place.

We simply do not have the manpower to have U.S. soldiers driving all of these supplies and providing security.  We are stretched to the limit with other missions.  Hopefully, the Afhgan Army and even potentially some organized tribal mitlia groups, like in Iraq, can help support these convoy missions.

Officials testify to Congress on convoys in Afghanistan

Army News Wire

Link

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Army News Service, June 23, 2010) -- Army and DoD officials told a Congressional committee Tuesday about what they are doing in Afghanistan to keep contracting funds out of the hands of the Taliban and other criminals.

They testified at a hearing of the House Oversight and Government Reform national security and foreign affairs subcommittee that is investigating whether funds from the Host Nation Trucking contract in Afghanistan could have been paid to insurgents.

The Host Nation Trucking contract totals $2.16 billion and is divided between eight Afghan, American and Middle Eastern companies. A portion of that money goes toward private security guards, and private firms in turn have paid local groups for "safe passage," according to allegations.

Brig. Gen. John Nicholson, director of the Pakistan-Afghanistan coordination cell, said the Army would like to reach a point where private security contracts are unnecessary. Any armed force that is not a part of the Afghanistan government needs to eventually dissolve, he said.

The investigation was headed by Tierney and the majority staff of the national security and foreign affairs subcommittee. The committee made six recommendations:

• The Department of Defense should be directly responsible for the contractors. "The U.S. government needs to have a direct line of authority and accountability over the private security companies that guard the supply chain," according to the report.

• Highway protection should transition to the Afghan National Security Forces or at least begin plans for them to take control.

• The trucking capacity under the contract should be determined. More contractors do not mean there are more trucks available, the report said.

• Contracts should also be made with prime contractors so the Department of Defense can hold subcontractors accountable. The report says there should also be better enforced and verifiable "incident reporting requirements."

 Soldiers provide security coverage for a convoy on a stretch of road that is frequently attacked in Afghanistan. U.S. Army Photo 2010