US pays Taliban

The US indirectly pays the Taliban through paying trucking companies in Afghanistan to move their supplies. The trucking companies have to pay the Taliban (and warlords, regional powerbrokers, etc.) to ensure safe passage wherever they go in Afghanistan.
Private security companies are also hired for security of the convoys, but the security firms don't really protect convoys of US military goods here because they simply can't; they need the Taliban's co-operation.

The Taliban/insurgents make good money out of this:
"It's a big part of their income," one of the top Afghan government security officials admits. In fact, US military officials in Kabul estimate that a minimum of 10% of the Pentagon's logistics contracts – hundreds of millions of dollars – consists of payments to insurgents.
As a military official in Kabul explained contracting in Afghanistan overall, "We understand that across the board, 10-20% goes to the insurgents. My intel [intelligence] guy would say it is closer to 10%. Generally, it is happening in logistics."

In other news, about 2000 civilians have been killed so far in 2009, more than in earlier years.
More civilians have died in attacks by Taliban insurgents than by aerial strikes and military operations by pro-government Afghan and international forces: According to UNAMA, 1,397 were killed by anti-government elements, 465 by pro-government forces and 165 by other actors.