Aren't we supposed to be fighting the Taliban?

We invaded Afghanistan because the Taliban regime harbored Al Qaeda after the 9/11/01 attacks.

Guess what?

Taliban and Afghan warlords are extorting some of the $2.16 billion the Defense Department has paid to local contractors who transport food, water, ammunition and fuel to U.S. military forces in Afghanistan, according to a House investigation to be released Tuesday.

Trucking contractors say they pay as much as $150,000 a month to warlords in "protection" money, and investigators concluded that payments for safe passage are a significant source of Taliban funding, according to a report by the staff of Rep. John Tierney, D-Mass., who heads the House national security and foreign affairs subcommittee.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2010-06-21-taliban-funds_N.htm

Got that? To assist our fight against the Taliban, we pay local contractors; the local contractors pay protection to the Taliban; and, the Taliban use the protection money to fund their fight against us. This makes no sense.