Contracts And Orders

WASHINGTON - Heavy U.S. reliance on private security in Afghanistan has helped to line the pockets of the Taliban and threatens the safety of coalition troops because contractors often don't vet local recruits and wind up hiring warlords and thugs, Senate investigators said Thursday.

WASHINGTON - About half of the nearly 393,000 people removed from the country during the past year were criminals, according to Homeland Security Department statistics.

WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court is getting involved in the longstanding dispute between the Pentagon and two contractors contesting the government's demand for $3 billion over the Navy's ill-fated A-12 Avenger attack plane.