International Security

It seems that the USA Today,  AP, and The Billings (Montana) Gazette are the only MSM to cover this story (ok, not quite true). Some unknown CA outfit, the American Police Force (APF) (how generic can they be?) shows up in Montana to take over an empty prison with 464 beds. Its first story, “What is the American Police Force and what is it doing in Montana?” ran October 1.  The next story, “Montana Attorney General probes secretive American Police Force” was up the next day. Rumors are out there that APF is really Blackwater/Xe. But I don’t see any comment from Blackwater hunter, Jeremy Scahill, so I’m skeptical about the Blackwater connection (if Scahill doesn’t see it…)

The story so far sounds like a bad Twilight Zone episode: big money, an empty prison out in nowhere, alleged terrorists (Quantanamo prisoners) may be sent there, shady company characters, staff lured from the public sector to work and shill for the company…or, it could just be a twisted, dark version of State and Main.

The AP and the Gazette reported that:

Michael Hilton, the apparent founder of APF who claims to be a military veteran, has a lengthy criminal record and has served time in prison in California.

Not reassuring.

Perhaps one of the best comments so far has come from the governor of Montana as he “ridiculed the idea of a secret government plot, saying: “I think a low-level card shark is not going to rise to the level to get some kind of government defense contract.”" He obviously doesn’t remember the green 22 year old guy who supplied bad ammo to the military in Afghanistan for $300M or the two characters from Custer Battles early in OIF.

TPM Muckraker ran a brief piece on how the town of Hardin has put out press material to allay local fears that “there are no commandos in the streets” there. This seems unnecessary. Montana folks are hardier than that; they don’t scare that easily, right? I mean, just because the American Police Force company image (below)  looks like a major swat team…