Desperate times call for desperate measures. This is most likely the culprit in the situation now unfolding in Hardin, Montana. All across America, small towns are struggling to survive. Many rural areas have discovered the correctional industry as an easy fix for hard economic times. However, a look behind the scenes reveals that this small country town may have got more than it bargained for.
Private security firms like Wackenhut have been around for years and although they may have raised an eyebrow, no one thought too much of a private company overseeing the containment of prison inmates. After all, it provided jobs and nobody seems to be getting hurt.
(AP photo)
Suspicion was aroused in Hardin when a number of Mercedes were spotted with an unfamiliar decal and the words "Hardin Police" prominently displayed. This along with the fact that the new correctional facility was abuzz with fresh activity prompted some questions. Problems began to arise when questions were asked and answers were not provided.
The facility had been under controversy since it had been built as a detention facility but did not meet the requirements for a correctional facility. Once the building was completed, Hardin officials were unable to secure a contract for the facility. Enter APF. Details remain sketchy about "American Police Force"; however, in an article in the Helenair newspaper, a source from APF revealed that his boss was retired U.S. Army colonel Richard Culver. Thanks to some investigative snooping by Ron Paul supporters from the DailyPaul.com, particularly "Liberty_Belle", on the connection between the American Police Force and Richard Culver, he is an executive with the security firm International SOS out of Trevose, PA. Culver is profiled in Portfolio.com's "Job of the Week" spotlight which states that in this particular job one could expect to earn between $100,000 to $350,000 annually. Not only does ISOS provide security services it touts itself as the world's largest "medical and security assistance company". In fact, it is keeping tabs on the swine flu pandemic and has its own "pandemic preparedness" page. Two items of note on this page under the topic "International SOS Capability" are "Medical Evacuation" and "RMR Capability".
Whether or not APF's duties were to extend beyond the detention facility is unclear. It is also unclear as to the relationship between APF and International SOS, other than sharing a security director. However, one disturbing fact regarding International SOS is that it is listed as a member of the International Peace Operations Association, which at one time provided an umbrella for Blackwater, and currently resides over Dyncorp as well as numerous other security and medical agencies. The IPOA's Wikipedia page defines the group as "created to support the burgeoning private military industry." For one, I am uncomfortable with the "burgeoning" of this particular industry, but maybe I have watched too many superhero movies lately.
What is disturbing in all of this is the growing trend which the government displays in "outsourcing" the fundamental responsibilities it has under the Constitution; namely, "to promote the general welfare, and to provide for the common defense". In a recent report, Moshe Schwartz, Specialist in Defense Acquisition, reported that the U.S. Department of Defense had 200,000 contractors and 194,000 military troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. He further states that,
DOD officials have stated that the military’s experience in Iraq and Afghanistan, coupled with Congressional attention and legislation, has focused DOD’s attention on the importance of contractors to operational success.
In other words, Congress is well aware that contractors now outnumber U.S. militiary forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. The use of civilian personnel during war raises numerous concerns. Not only the obvious concerns regarding logistics, discipline, safety and protocol, but concerns regarding the reporting of
casualties and overall progress of the campaign. The reported torture of Iraqi prisoners, for example, takes on a completely different focus with the introduction of mercenary groups.
Overseas activities are not the only areas of concern regarding these para-military organizations. During Katrina, Blackwater troops were used extensively and were placed in positions of having to disarm American citizens. What are the ramifications of a private, civilian army violating the first and second amendment rights of American citizens for the purpose of financial gain? Numerous officers during the recent protests at the G 20 summit in Pittsburgh were unable to be identified by insignia. Undoubtedly, they were contracted by a private agency such as International SOS.
Ron Paul has stated that government does provide a function which is defined by the Constitution. It is for this purpose that we collectively authorize the government. We do not give authorization with the understanding that these essential functions will be "outsourced", whether by a Democrat or Republican administration.
Update: Justin Elliott of TPMMuckraker reports that APF contracted the facility for purposes of training for law enforcement sniper operations and DNA testing.
Update II: AP reporter Matthew Brown reports APF "Captain" has checkered past, contract elaborate scam.
Comments
No comments yet for this great article on the terrifying, domestic deployments of America's paramilitary traitor death squads? Strange....
All I can say is if you don't know there's nothing you can do and in this day and age that's irresponsible. Especially if you've got a family. ae911truth.org...If you don't believe 9/11 was an inside job setting the pretext to arm people in YOUR OWN COUNTRY AGAINST YOU..Your one of the people who will go first...Knowledge is power, all I can say is good luck to you.
YouTube: "Endgame". Nuff said.
Excellent article.
This is what's called journalism, maybe some of you hacks in the mainstream should pay attention to this gentleman he obviously has the scoop on this story and what a sad one it is.
When will the people wake up and see our country has been taken from us?
Better yet why don't the people of Hardin wake up?This calls for action by the townspeople now!!
I think we are in a lot more trouble in this country than even the so called conspiracy theorist could imagine. I hope people are preparing. We have some hard realities to face.
This is a disturbing trend, though it was preceded by decades of government eradication of civil rights, passing so many victimless "crime" laws and filling up our prisons until we incarcerate a bigger percentage of citizens than any other country in the world, including even China.
People of America, we need to stop electing officials that take away our personal liberties and militarize our police and keep us in unending wars.
Wars and prisons are Big Business sponsored by your government. You can stop it.
This is just a drop in the bucket for what is to come for this country. As was noted in the article, times are difficult and locally depressed economies are looking for solutions, even those found in this type of industry. What is so sad is that this is unconstitutional as well as reprehensible. My question is what government official is responsible for this atrocity? I want to know who it is and what their phone number is. Posting it on key sites, like the Daily Paul, would be fabulous in shaming the guilty in this situation.
I am concerned that this has yet to hit the mainstream. The act alone of impersonating a Peace Officer is illegal in all 50 states. Where are the good guys? The site for APF touts mercenary experiance up to including military grade arms sales. This is way past Wackenhut! Do we see a movement toward martial law? Swine Flu anyone? Colapse of the Financial System? Wake up folks. Research this story yourselves. It gets very, very deep. If you fail to seek the truth, I assure you, you will find nothing. The site for APF was only created in March. They are also associated with Allied Defense systems, who shares the IP address. If all this seems scary, you can bet it is much much worse!
Hmmm, they have 'extensive training' at a Xe (Blackwater) facility and they use the Serbian prince's crest?? I hope the citizens of Montana are very, very well armed to defend themselves from these folk (yes, this coming from a somewhat liberal San Franciscan).
I've got contacts in Hardin Montana and they say the APF folks just keep to themselves, don't bother anyone and apparently just train at the prison site.
The real conspiracy was how this unneeded turkey got built in the first place. I'd guess we'll see a lot more such useless government projects with Obama's stimulus money.
I Feel like I'm living in a "Twilight Zone Movie" Does anyone know if Rent-a-Cops like BlackWater/Wackenhut, swear an Oath! to protect and Defend the Constitution like Real cops do?
WAKE UP SHEEPLE!
People get together with friends and family including neighbors and make a plan on what you are going to do when this happens in your town because it will happen. when the first shot is fired all need to get together and defend the constitution in numbers.
Damn, and i thought it was hardcore here in China.....
If regular police think they're safe from these guys, they're in for a rude awakening.
Are you aware that APF's website is almost completely fabricated from text taken from other websites? There is almost nothing on that site that is original. So, why did this group need to copy their text from other websites including a Junior Achievement website, Blackwater website and the Department of Labor website?
Who ARE these people?
They are probably UN Peacekeeping forces disguised as American Police Forces.
Vaccinations... hmm... VeriCHIP goes up 184%... they make the chip that is a bracelet around every American to tell if they've had the "H1N1" shot. If you don't get it, they round you up... beware of October and November... Do NOT get the live virus... when was mercury, squalene, sorbitol, animal viruses, aborted fetal tissue, aluminum, benzene, and formaldehyde, EVER an immune strengthener or preventative treatment?
The Fascists in power are herding us in. Join the r3volution!!! campaignforliberty(dot)com infowars(dot)com
You people are clowns! It's another scam in a long line of scams from Hilton.
The Government always uses Felons when they run a Black Psyop so that if they get caught they can always hide behind the Non-credibility of the felon and when the felons aqueal like a stool pigeon, the Govt. simply tells the sheeple they are lieing and refers to the fact that this is a former Felon telling the story! That is how they keep the sheeple dumbed down!
Ironic, isn't it? Who do paramilitary in black Mercedes bring to mind from circa 1930’s Germany? The USA is already far and away the leader in per capita prison population, but then, we haven't seen anything yet.
Quotes like "This is what's called journalism" are laughable. A real journalist would realize that there is more than one "Richard Culver" out there and the individual referred to in the article was never in the U.S. Army and doesn't even work any longer for the company supposedly involved in this. And of course this company has nothing to do with Hardin MT or the IPOA. Real journalism involves verifying sources, not just running a few google searches and making connections that don't really exist.
"James says:
Ironic, isn't it? Who do paramilitary in black Mercedes bring to mind from circa 1930’s Germany? The USA is already far and away the leader in per capita prison population, but then, we haven't seen anything yet."
October 1, 11:37 PM
Wow...Mercedes, the choice vehicle of Nazis everywhere. Seriously, you ppl need to stop hearkening to Alex Jones as if he were some divine messenger. The people of Hardin confirmed all of this was mostly just rumors and Prison Planet even acknowledged it even though AJ is really the source of all the the hysteria. I love how his listeners call everyone else sheeple.
They probably ARE foreign mercenary troops, which would violate not only the U.S. Constitution but also the Montana Constitution. However, I don't need a Libertarian to tell me this. Just common sense would tell you that, in order to not involve the Feds, these "private army" companies are composed of foreign nationals, some of them or perhaps many of them illegal aliens and probably a good portion of them with criminal backgrounds. Are these the kinds of people we want running ANYTHING in our communities? I think not.
Ahh Bill... This story was brought out by Alex Jones and then run by, AP, CBS,ABC, NBC, MSNBC, BOSTON HERALD, usa today ... you need to go back to sleep Bill.. and when you lose everything you got shortly, you can blame Alex Jones Hysteria for that as well...
"Ahh Bill... This story was brought out by Alex Jones and then run by, AP, CBS,ABC, NBC, MSNBC, BOSTON HERALD, usa today ... you need to go back to sleep Bill.. and when you lose everything you got shortly, you can blame Alex Jones Hysteria for that as well..."
Good way to misrepresent the facts. The "mainstream media" covered a town that was possibly being exploited by a con man. Alex Jones was as usual running around screaming the sky was falling and all his drones fell for it hook, line, and sinker. Plus the local news was covering it far before Jones decided to spin it into his upcoming Fall line of fear. Well, its 2 months later and guess what? APF backed out of the deal when it became apparent it was nothing more than a con job. But as usual Jones and his parade of apostles will pretend like this never happened and start fear mongering the next over hyped event. Remember Y2K? World sure went crap huh?
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