Lots of ground to cover, so straight ahead with the Guardian:
Pentagon: US ground troops may join Iraqis in combat against Isis
Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel and General Martin Dempsey refuse to rule out greater role for US ‘advisers’ if airstrikes
The Pentagon leadership suggested to a Senate panel on Tuesday that US ground troops may directly join Iraqi forces in combat against the Islamic State (Isis), despite US president Barack Obama’s repeated public assurances against US ground combat in the latest Middle Eastern war.
A day after US warplanes expanded the war south-west of Baghdad, Army General Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the Senate armed services committee that he could see himself recommending the use of some US military forces now in Iraq to embed within Iraqi and Kurdish units to take territory away from Isis.
“If we reach the point where I believe our advisers should accompany Iraqi troops on attacks against specific [Isis] targets, I will recommend that to the president,” Dempsey said, preferring the term “close combat advising”.
The McClatchy Washington Bureau takes action:
U.S. hits Islamic State south of Baghdad in first strike under new Obama orders
The United States bombed an Islamic State position southwest of Baghdad on Monday in what the U.S. Central Command said was the first airstrike undertaken under expanded rules of engagement President Barack Obama outlined in a speech last week.
The Central Command statement posted Monday night provided no details of the strike, but the area southwest of Baghdad is a Sunni Muslim stronghold where Islamic State forces have been active since June. The statement said the Islamic State forces were firing on Iraqi security forces.
“The airstrike southwest of Baghdad was the first strike taken as part of our expanded efforts beyond protecting our own people and humanitarian missions to hit ISIL targets as Iraqi forces go on offense, as outlined in the president’s speech last Wednesday,” the statement said, using the U.S. government’s preferred acronym for the Islamic State.
From the Sydney Morning Herald, hands wringing in anticipation:
Growing global conflict a bonanza for arms makers
Geopolitical instability has left many global corporations jittery.
But the world’s biggest arms producers are doing well, with shares of the top 12 publicly listed firms – based on a list by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute – rising by almost 30 per cent on average in the last year.
Stock price data on the 12 companies reveal most have benefitted in a year in which the number of conflict zones in Europe, the Middle East and Africa has risen. While some companies have under-performed during the period, many have risen by more than 50 per cent.
Customers line up, via Defense One:
Governments Line Up To Buy the Drone That Terrorized Gaza
A few weeks after Israel and Hamas signed an open-ended truce to end their nearly two-month-long war in Gaza, Israeli defense contractors are parading weapons used in the conflict at a conference in Tel Aviv. The annual Israel Unmanned Systems conference, which began Sunday and runs through Friday (Sept. 19), is jointly hosted with the US Embassy in Tel Aviv. According to its website, attendees include “senior officials from commercial and government entities” from Europe, Asia, North and South America.
The conference’s sponsors include the largest Israeli private defense contractors, among them Haifa-based Elbit Systems. Elbit’s Hermes 450 (pdf), a “multi-role tactical high-performance unmanned aircraft system” (UAS)—in other words, a battle drone—operated this summer in the Gaza Strip, and may have carried out attacks.
Photos taken by an Agence France-Presse photographer that appeared in a July post on The Aviationist, a blog, showed the aircraft flying over the skies of Gaza. It had a pod under each wing that looked like it could be a fuel tank, but which, according to an Israeli source quoted by the blog, was “a firing pod for a light missile.” The source would not independently confirm or deny that it was used in attacks on Hamas positions but David Cenciotti, founder of the blog, told Quartz that it’s highly likely that the Hermes 450 was the IDF’s vehicle of choice for such attacks.
But it looks like one deal came undone, via RT:
Israel nixes drone deal with Ukraine to not anger Russia – report
Israel’s Foreign Ministry blocked the proposed sale of military hardware to Ukraine to avoid a strain in relations with Russia – even after the country’s Defense Ministry approved the transaction – Israeli media reported. The deal with Kiev included UAVs.
Ukraine sent a delegation into Israel in order to arrange for a purchase of weapons and hardware – which reportedly included Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, or drones – to be used against self-defense forces, Israel’s Channel Two reported.
The report revealed that the country’s Defense Ministry approved the sale of drones manufactured by Aeronautics. Later, however, the decision was blocked by the Foreign Ministry out of fear of angering Russia and provoking it to sell more weapons to Syria and Iran, which Israel views as direct threats.
From the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, semantics and legality:
Blinding them with science: Is development of a banned laser weapon continuing?
It is clear that lasers are being aimed at eyes in combat situations, but the militaries involved say the intent is not to blind, but to warn or protect against attack.
A 2010 article in the UK version of Wired says that laser “dazzlers” have been used by British soldiers against fighters in remote parts of Afghanistan—well away from public scrutiny. The Green Laser Optical Warner, or GLOW, is meant to temporarily stun, or “dazzle” the eye with glare. With an effective range of 300 meters, or nearly 1,000 feet, GLOW is intended to be used to stop suspicious characters from approaching a military checkpoint. It has been called an escalation of force option, providing an intermediate step before shooting starts. US forces used a similar device in Afghanistan and Iraq, the Green Laser Interdiction System, which has an effective range of a few kilometers at night, Laser Focus World wrote in 2012.
But something bright enough to dazzle at 300 meters can cause permanent eye damage at 50 meters, and these devices can be set to deliver a narrow (and more intense) beam. To get around the ban against blinding weapons, systems like the GLIS run off of a low-power source.
But the developers of the dazzler systems seem to be tiptoeing closer and closer to the line that defines what is a banned weapon and what is not—and their products are becoming more and more readily available. (One dazzler can be purchased for $15,999 on the Internet, although the seller notes that it is subject to government restrictions.)
From the Guardian, boots in the wings:
Pentagon: US ground troops may join Iraqis in combat against Isis
Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel and General Martin Dempsey refuse to rule out greater role for US ‘advisers’ if airstrikes
The Pentagon leadership suggested to a Senate panel on Tuesday that US ground troops may directly join Iraqi forces in combat against the Islamic State (Isis), despite US president Barack Obama’s repeated public assurances against US ground combat in the latest Middle Eastern war.
A day after US warplanes expanded the war south-west of Baghdad, Army General Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the Senate armed services committee that he could see himself recommending the use of some US military forces now in Iraq to embed within Iraqi and Kurdish units to take territory away from Isis.
“If we reach the point where I believe our advisers should accompany Iraqi troops on attacks against specific [Isis] targets, I will recommend that to the president,” Dempsey said, preferring the term “close combat advising”.
From the McClatchy Washington Bureau, bombs away:
U.S. hits Islamic State south of Baghdad in first strike under new Obama orders
The United States bombed an Islamic State position southwest of Baghdad on Monday in what the U.S. Central Command said was the first airstrike undertaken under expanded rules of engagement President Barack Obama outlined in a speech last week.
The Central Command statement posted Monday night provided no details of the strike, but the area southwest of Baghdad is a Sunni Muslim stronghold where Islamic State forces have been active since June. The statement said the Islamic State forces were firing on Iraqi security forces.
“The airstrike southwest of Baghdad was the first strike taken as part of our expanded efforts beyond protecting our own people and humanitarian missions to hit ISIL targets as Iraqi forces go on offense, as outlined in the president’s speech last Wednesday,” the statement said, using the U.S. government’s preferred acronym for the Islamic State.
Al Jazeera America carries a caution:
Iran warns US against using ISIL threat to push a hostile agenda
Analysis: Tehran has played a key role against ISIL in Iraq, but fears a Saudi effort to isolate and pressure Iran
Despite already having demonstrated its centrality to the campaign to push the Islamic State (ISIL) out of Iraq, Iran was pointedly excluded from Monday’s conference in Paris to forge a military coalition against the extremist group. And Tehran was far from happy, with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei lashing out against the Obama administration’s new war plans.
Khamenei decried the Paris conclave as a dangerous effort by the United States and Arab countries hostile to Iran to use the challenge of ISIL as an opportunity to promote an anti-Tehran agenda in Syria and throughout the region. “Iran sees this as an effort by Saudi Arabia and its allies, and the United States, to exert leverage and pressure on Iranian interests, to degrade or weaken Iranian influence in Syria,” said Reza Marashi, research director at the National Iranian American Council.
Khamenei called Secretary of State John Kerry a liar for saying in Paris that Iran had not been invited to join the coalition, listing numerous moments at which the U.S. had solicited Iranian involvement. “The West assembled a coalition of 40-50 countries against Syria and couldn’t do a damn thing,” Khamenei said, referring to Washington’s previous efforts to rally allies to oust Syria’s Assad regime, which remains a key ally of Iran.
From BuzzFeed, playing the border card:
Texas Congressman: ISIS Could Work With Drug Cartels To Get Into U.S.
“I mentioned several weeks ago if ISIS wants to come into the United States they’ll contact the drug cartels.”
“I asked the chief border patrol section…chief, I said, ‘Who’s coming across the border from Mexico?’” Texas Rep. Ted Poe said during an appearance on Tony Perkins’ radio program Washington Watch Monday. “And he said, ‘Since January, people from 144 countries have come across.’ He said, ‘Just before you got here three Ukrainians came across the Texas-Mexico border.’ It’s because it’s open. Wide open for anyone who wishes to cross.”
The Texas congressman also claimed ISIS could work with Mexican drug cartels to enter the United States.
“I mentioned several weeks ago if ISIS wants to come into the United States they’ll contact the drug cartels who bring people to the United States illegally and they will bring them,” he said. “The Pentagon at first said, ‘Oh, that’s not true.’ And now the Pentagon is backing off. So let’s do the obvious. Let’s protect the southern border of the U.S.”
From the Independent, another threat alleged:
Islamic State: Pope is ‘being targeted by Isis’, Iraqi ambassador to the Holy See warns
The Islamic State (Isis) is intent on killing the Pope, the Iraqi ambassador to the Holy See has warned the Vatican.
Habeeb Al-Sadr, who has been the ambassador since 2010, has advised that one of Isis’ goals is to assassinate the Pontiff and warned that the jihadists “don’t just threaten”, according to Italian newspaper La Nazione.
Mr Al-Sadr confirmed he did not have any specific intelligence on an impending attack but said that their “genocide” of Yazidi Christians and destruction of holy Islamic sites was an indication of their intent.
“What has been declared by the self-proclaimed Islamic State is clear – they want to kill the Pope,” he told La Nazione on Tuesday, adding: “The threats against the Pope are credible.”
The Intercept debunks:
No, Snowden’s Leaks Didn’t Help The Terrorists
Did Edward Snowden’s revelations on NSA surveillance compromise the ability of intelligence agencies to monitor terrorist groups? Contrary to lurid claims made by U.S. officials, a new independent analysis of the subject says no. As reported by NBC:
“.…Flashpoint Global Partners, a private security firm, examined the frequency of releases and updates of encryption software by jihadi groups….. It found no correlation in either measure to Snowden’s leaks about the NSA’s surveillance techniques, which became public beginning June 5, 2013.”
The report itself goes on to make the point that, “Well prior to Edward Snowden, online jihadists were already aware that law enforcement and intelligence agencies were attempting to monitor them.” This point would seem obvious in light of the fact that terrorist groups have been employing tactics to evade digital surveillance for years. Indeed, such concerns about their use of sophisticated encryption technology predate even 9/11. Contrary to claims that such groups have fundamentally altered their practices due to information gleaned from these revelations, the report concludes. “The underlying public encryption methods employed by online jihadists do not appear to have significantly changed since the emergence of Edward Snowden.”
And while we’re at it, at RT story from April 05, 2014, and the links between spooks and the corporateer agenda:
US blasts Europe’s plan for anti-snooping network as ‘unfair advantage’
US officials on Friday slammed plans to construct an EU-centric communication system, designed to prevent emails and phone calls from being swept up by the NSA, warning that such a move is a violation of trade laws.
Calling Europe’s proposal to build its own integrated communication system “draconian,” the office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) said American tech companies, which are worth an estimated $8 trillion per year, would take a financial hit if Brussels gives the initiative the green light.
“Recent proposals from countries within the European Union to create a Europe-only electronic network (dubbed a ‘Schengen cloud’ by advocates) or to create national-only electronic networks could potentially lead to effective exclusion or discrimination against foreign service suppliers that are directly offering network services, or dependent on them,” the USTR said in its annual report.
In the aftermath of Edward Snowden’s whistleblowing activities at the National Security Agency, which proved that much of the world’s telecommunication meta-data is being stored away in the United States, European countries – notably Germany and France – are desperate to get a handle on their own networks without relying on a meddlesome middleman.
RT again, though from today this time, beat the press:
Governments spy on journalists with weaponized malware – WikiLeaks
Journalists and dissidents are under the microscope of intelligence agencies, Wikileaks revealed in its fourth SpyFiles series. A German software company that produces computer intrusion systems has supplied many secret agencies worldwide.
The weaponized surveillance malware, popular among intelligence agencies for spying on “journalists, activists and political dissidents,” is produced by FinFisher, a German company. Until late 2013, FinFisher used to be part of the UK-based Gamma Group International, revealed WikiLeaks in the latest published batch of secret documents.
FinFisher’s spyware exploits and monitors systems remotely. It’s capable of intercepting communications and data from OS X, Windows and Linux computers, as well as Android, iOS, BlackBerry, Symbian and Windows Mobile portable devices. Three back-end programs are required for the spy program to operate. FinFisher Relay and FinSpy Proxy programs are FinFisher suite components that route and manage intercepted traffic, redirecting it to the FinSpy Master collection program. The spyware can steal keystrokes, Skype conversations, and even connect to your webcam and watch you in real time.
From Techdirt, implementation prior to evaluation:
FBI Rolls Out Biometric Database On Schedule, Accompanying Privacy Impact Assessment Still Nowhere To Be Found
from the move-along,-nothing-to-see-but-millions-of-faces dept
The FBI has just announced that all systems are go for its biometric database.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Division announced today the achievement of full operational capability of the Next Generation Identification (NGI) System. The FBI’s NGI System was developed to expand the Bureau’s biometric identification capabilities, ultimately replacing the FBI’s Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS) in addition to adding new services and capabilities.
This puts the agency pretty much right on schedule for its stated goal of “full operational capacity in fiscal year 2014.” As was to be expected from its earlier foot-dragging, the press release makes no note of the Privacy Impact Assessment that was supposed to precede the roll out.
The system itself has been in the works since 2008. Coincidentally, this is also the last time anyone at the FBI delivered a Privacy Impact Assessment. Since then, the database’s sweep and power has increased immensely. The PIA promised in 2012 still hasn’t been delivered and there’s no indication at the FBI’s website that one is right around the corner.
More from News Corporation Australia:
FBI’s facial recognition system will combine faces of criminals and ordinary citizens
THE FBI has launched its “next generation” facial recognition system — and the implications are terrifying.
It not only draws on a database of criminal mugshots, it searches through ordinary people too. Anyone who has ever had a background check when applying for a job could be identified in a police hunt.
And the system is hardly infallible — a search will pull up 50 faces, with only an 85 per cent likelihood that the suspect will be on list, by the FBI’s own estimation.
From Salon, endorsement:
Obama administration throws support behind body cameras for cops
One of the most widely supported reforms being pushed in the wake of Michael Brown’s killing gets a big endorsement
Responding to an online petition made in response to the killing of unarmed African-American teenager Michael Brown that quickly racked-up more than 150,000 signatures, the Obama administration announced on Monday through a written statement from White House adviser on Justice and Urban Affairs Roy Austin that while it cannot force the nation’s policy to wear small cameras on their uniforms by decree, it supported the growing movement within law enforcement itself to embrace the practice, reports the Associated Press.
“We support the use of cameras and video technology by law enforcement officers, and the Department of Justice continues to research best practices for implementation,” Austin wrote in response to the petition, after noting that such a law would have to come from Congress, not the White House. Austin also noted that while the White House’s support for the idea was secure, the administration was not unmindful about the policy change’s likely costs (both financial and in terms of personal privacy).
Austin announced that the Department of Justice had plans to launch a thorough evaluation of how body cameras on police uniforms were working out for those forces that had already decided to use them. According to the Associated Press, the DOJ also has a report suggesting that when cops and civilians know their interactions are being recorded, both behave more calmly and cooperatively. The footage could prove valuable for training purposes, too.
And from the Guardian, what is it about Missouri cops?:
FBI investigate Missouri police stun gun incident that left teenager injured
Police in Kansas City used a stun gun to subdue a 17-year-old during a traffic stop, leaving him in critical condition
The FBI is investigating after a police officer in suburban Kansas City, Missouri, used a stun gun to subdue a 17-year-old during a traffic stop, leaving him hospitalized in critical condition.
An Independence police officer used the stun gun on Bryce Masters of Independence on Sunday afternoon after stopping a car Masters was driving because it had a warrant attached to it, police said in a statement.
The officer, identified by the police department as Tim Runnels, has been placed on administrative leave.
After the jump, Italian payoffs, a petro hack attack, Google keeps mum on its Koch Brothers ties, drone deals canceled, Obama sends subs to counter China, a Chinese crackdown justification, Private spy cams and bugs banned in China, another kind of worrisome nuclear stockpile in Japan, and the open Mideast nuclear secret. . .
From TheLocal.it, payoffs:
Italy admits paying to free some hostages
Italy on Tuesday admitted paying ransoms to obtain the freedom of some hostages, saying it approached negotiations on a case-by-case basis.
“Cases vary,” Deputy Foreign Minister Lapo Pistelli said on Italian radio, suggesting that a firm policy of not paying ransoms such as that of the United States was “a little mechanical”.
“In most cases where we have succeeded in intervening positively there was no money payment,” he said. “We have never carried out a military blitz, but that doesn’t mean that we have always reached for our wallet,” Pistelli added.
Six Italians are currently being held hostage, three in Syria, two in Libya and one in Pakistan.
Threatpost covers a petro hack attack:
Citadel Variant Used in Attacks Against Middle Eastern Petrochemical Companies
Cybercrime tools continue to crossover into the realm of nation-state targeted attacks, with the latest example being a variant of the Citadel banking Trojan used in attacks against petrochemical companies in the Middle East.
The attacks took place within the past few months, said researchers at IBM Trusteer who spotted repurposed versions of Citadel on the companies’ networks. The revamped Citadel targeted URLs such as the companies’ webmail, and lay in wait until the user landed on the particular URL before it began recording credentials and sending them off to a central server. From there, the attackers had legitimate access to employee or contractor emails and could read and send messages and kick off phishing campaigns seeking deeper access to the victims’ networks.
The victims, said Dana Tamir, director of enterprise security at IBM, included one of the largest sellers of petrochemical products in the Middle East and a regional supplier of raw petrochemical materials. Tamir would not say how much access the hackers had, nor whether they were successful in stealing intellectual property or communication from the organization.
From the Progressive, Google keeps mum on its Koch Brothers ties, a national security threat if there ever was one [unless you’re rich]:
Google Refuses to Respond to Letter Questioning ALEC Ties
The Center for Media and Democracy/Progressive Inc. (CMD) has joined more than 50 watchdog, advocacy, and labor groups in sending a letter to Google asking it to cut its ties to the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). Google has not responded, telling the trade publication Ars Technica, “we aren’t going to be commenting on this letter” and refusing to respond to repeated requests for comment made by the International Business Times.
Microsoft recently cut ties to ALEC, as CMD reported, prompting many to ask, “Will Google be next?”
CMD has reported on Google’s new ties to ALEC as well as its “substantial” funding of other right wing groups — Grover Norquist’s Americans for Tax Reform, the Federalist Society, the American Conservative Union, and the political arm of the Heritage Foundation that led the charge to shut down the government over the Affordable Care Act: Heritage Action.
From Want China Times, Obama beefs up:
US cruise missile submarines deployed to Asia-Pacific
Two of the US Navy’s four Ohio-class cruise missile submarines have been deployed to the Asia-Pacific to cruise disputed waters in the East China Sea, South China Sea and the Philippine Sea, according to the London-based Jane’s Defence Review.
Docked at Singapore’s Changi Naval Base between Aug. 10-15, the USS Michigan is one of the Ohio-class submarines currently operating in Asian waters. The vessel had been underwater for three months before making its scheduled call. Equipped with 154 Tomahawk land-attack cruise missiles as well as a large complement of special operations personnel, the USS Michigan is an intimidating peacemaker in the region, the article said.
Captain Benjamin Pearson, commanding officer of the USS Michigan, said that the vessel has been deployed in the Western Pacific since December 2013 conducting surveillance, training and other undisclosed missions. “We do operations in the East China Sea, South China Sea and Philippine Sea. This area is like our big backyard,” Pearson said. Within just six minutes, an Ohio-class boat is capable of launching all 154 Tomahawk land-attack cruise missiles.
From Xinhua, crackdown justification:
China defends its foreign press policy
China on Monday defended its foreign press policy, stressing that foreign journalists should abide by Chinese law and regulations when reporting in China.
“Since the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the Chinese government has provided more and more to foreign journalists, including providing more information and facilitating their working and living environment. They enjoy plenty freedom when reporting here,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said at a daily press briefing.
Hong made the remarks in response to a newly released report by Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China (FCCC) in which it said China “continues to erect hurdles to foreign journalists.”
“The FCCC believes that China is rapidly eroding the progress it made in opening up to the world prior to the 2008 Olympics,” said the report, issued on Friday.
A secret snooping ban from Want China Times:
Beijing bans all hidden surveillance equipment
Beijing authorities have initiated a ban on all secret surveillance equipment in the city amid increasing pressure from the central government to crack down on spying activities.
The decision was issued jointly by the city’s Administration for Industry and Commerce, Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau and Beijing National Security Bureau, which added that purchases of these devices–such as surreptitious cameras installed in glasses or walking sticks to secretly record photos or videos of people in bathrooms and changing rooms–could lead to serious criminal liability.
The sale of such equipment threatens the lives and privacy of citizens, said an official with the Administration for Industry and Commerce.
From the Japan Times, another kind of worrisome nuclear stockpile:
Japan’s plutonium stockpile rose to 47 tons as of 2013
Japan possessed about 47.1 tons of plutonium in and outside the country as of the end of 2013, up some 2.9 tons from the year before, the Cabinet Office said Tuesday.
Newly added were 2.3 tons generated through the spent fuel reprocessing outsourced to Britain and 640 kg Japan had not reported to the global watchdog for being unused even though loaded into a commercial reactor and faced criticism.
Japan upholds a nuclear fuel recycle policy, under which plutonium extracted by reprocessing conventional uranium fuel is consumed by existing reactors in the form of plutonium-uranium mixed oxide fuel. But its feasibility remains uncertain as the 2011 Fukushima nuclear crisis heightened public concerns over the use of nuclear power.
From Defense One, hypocrisy acknowledged:
Israel’s Worst-Kept Secret
Israel has a substantial arsenal of nuclear weapons.
Former CIA Director Robert Gates said so during his 2006 Senate confirmation hearings for secretary of defense, when he noted—while serving as a university president—that Iran is surrounded by “powers with nuclear weapons,” including “the Israelis to the west.” Former President Jimmy Carter said so in 2008 and again this year, in interviews and speeches in which he pegged the number of Israel’s nuclear warheads at 150 to around 300.
But due to a quirk of federal secrecy rules, such remarks generally cannot be made even now by those who work for the U.S. government and hold active security clearances. In fact, U.S. officials, even those on Capitol Hill, are routinely admonished not to mention the existence of an Israeli nuclear arsenal and occasionally punished when they do so.
The policy of never publicly confirming what a scholar once called one of the world’s “worst-kept secrets” dates from a political deal between the United States and Israel in the late 1960s. Its consequence has been to help Israel maintain a distinctive military posture in the Middle East while avoiding the scrutiny—and occasional disapprobation—applied to the world’s eight acknowledged nuclear powers.
For our final item, South China Morning Post evokes a stereotype:
‘Racist’ cartoon issued by Japanese ministry angers rights activists
Pamphlet issued by Tokyo to Japan’s embassies in response to Hague convention is criticised for depicting a foreign man beating his child
Human rights activists in Japan have reacted angrily to a new pamphlet released by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that they claim is racist and stereotypical for depicting Caucasian fathers beating their children.
The 11-page leaflet has been sent to Japanese embassies and consulates around the world in response to the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction going into effect in Japan on April 1.
Tokyo dragged its feet on ratifying the treaty, which broadly stipulates that a child should be returned to his or her country of habitual residence when they have been taken out of that country by a parent but without the consent of the other parent.
But manga-style images of foreign fathers beating children and Japanese women portrayed as innocent victims have raised the hackles of campaigners, both those fighting discrimination against foreigners and non-Japanese who have been unable to see children who have been abducted by Japanese former spouses.
