We’re paying protection money to the Taliban — VOICES for REASON

GlobalPost reports that “one of the richest sources of Taliban funding is the foreign assistance coming into the country” — and since America is a leading donor, our dollars now flow to the Islamists killing our soldiers in Afghanistan. (Watch the CBS video for an overview.)

Anecdotal evidence is mounting that the Taliban are taking a hefty portion of assistance money coming into Afghanistan from the outside.

This goes beyond mere protection money or extortion of “taxes” at the local level — very high-level negotiations take place between the Taliban and major contractors, according to sources close to the process.

A shadowy office in Kabul houses the Taliban contracts officer, who examines proposals and negotiates with organizational hierarchies for a percentage. He will not speak to, or even meet with, a journalist, but sources who have spoken with him and who have seen documents say that the process is quite professional.

Let’s put this in a broader context. The point of going into Afghanistan was supposed to be to eliminate the Taliban (and its Islamist allies). Though Washington made noises to that effect, in reality the only kind of war our leaders deemed proper was one that put a premium on “compassion” — promising (under Bush) vast “reconstruction” projects and elections. For his part, Obama seeks a redoubling of “nation-building” initiatives. And now it emerges that, for the privilege of building bridges and roads in Afghanistan, we must pay the (powerfully resurgent) Taliban protection money. To the tune of millions of dollars.

It is hard to imagine a more egregious case of arming our own destroyers.