The Senate report slams the Pentagon for failing to keep track of tens of thousands of private security contractors in Afghanistan, a failure that has placed both the mission and US troops at grave risk.

The inquiry into the role and oversight of the Pentagon’s private security contractors in Afghanistan, including a review of more than 125 security contracts from 2007 to 2009, paint a bleak picture “inconsistent with the counterinsurgency strategy” in the war-torn country.

“The report describes a number of private security contractors funneling US taxpayer dollars to Afghan warlords and strongmen who are linked to murder, kidnapping, bribery, pro-Taleban and anti-coalition activities,” Sen. Carl Levin, D-Michigan, said Thursday during a Senate briefing.

The Senate investigation found “systemic deficiencies” in private security contracting in Afghanistan, with evidence of widespread failures to adequately train and vet Afghan employees who work closely with American troops.

Investigators cited cases of Afghan security contractors who were “working both sides,” in cooperation with warlords, the Taleban and other anti-coalition forces, according to Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

“All too often our reliance on security contractors has empowered warlords and powerbrokers operating outside of Afghan government control,” said Levin, suggesting they could have been empowering the enemy.

The report details one incident in February in which contractor guards fired on US Marines who were shouting to identify themselves and using signal flares. The guards shot and killed a Marine. The Marines later detained the guards and found they were high on opium and had been given no training in how to fire their rifles.

Another section of the report focuses on guards hired by ArmorGroup as an example of how US and United Nations contracts benefit Afghan warlords.

Afghanistan has more than 26,000 private security personnel, 90 percent of whom are working under US government contracts.

Levin said the solution to the problem is ultimately to integrate vetted Afghan private security contractors into Afghan government security forces. That strategy, he said, would avoid turning armed and unemployed Afghan men in large numbers onto the streets, and could thereby strengthen the Afghan government’s capacity to secure its own territory.

The redacted Senate report is available at: http://bit.ly/amPyYb