John Tulloh

John Tulloh had a 40-year career in foreign news.

John's recent articles

JOHN TULLOH. Malaysia - the wolf of Kuala Lumpur.

There was much mirth in Malaysia the other day when the US Justice Department filed civil lawsuits alleging a $3.5bn embezzlement of a Kuala Lumpur fund and diplomatically referred to one of the alleged villains as Malaysia Official 1. Everyone knew who that was - their prime minister, Najib Razak. It concerns the long-running scandal of the state investment fund known as 1MDB which Najib himself set up. He denies any misappropriation of funds, resorting to the traditional defence of sweating political leaders that its nothing more than a smear campaign.

JOHN TULLOH. Shrugging off the effects of the Iraq invasion.

His decision to invade Iraq is easily the worst foreign policy decision ever made by an American president. Professor Jean Edward Smith, eminent US presidential biographer, on George W. Bush. The other day the Sydney Morning Herald had a cartoon showing John Howard in a military uniform and holding a pop gun. Behind him were the symbolic tombstones of the tens of thousands of Iraqis, mainly innocents, whove died since the 2003 invasion. Howard is depicted a shrugging and saying Seemed like a good idea at the time That, crudely, summed up the rationale for the invasion.

JOHN TULLOH. Olympics and oil - a tale of two South American countries.

Back in 2009, the International Olympic Committee made a bold decision. It decided the 2016 Games would be held for the first time in South America, a continent not noted for its political, economic or social stability. Rio de Janeiro in Brazil would be the host city even though the evaluation of three others - Tokyo, Madrid and Chicago - was superior. At the time, Brazils economy was thundering along, overtaking Russia in strength and sitting comfortably in the worlds top 10. It was boom time in Rio. Today it is more like gloom time as Brazils economy contracts and...

John Tulloh. The Defence Department prepares for war.

The release of the Chilcot report revives a memory from late 2002 or early 2003. Washington, London and Canberra were abuzz with talk of military action against the Iraqi regime of President Saddam Hussein. President George W. Bush accused him of having weapons of mass destruction and aiding al-Qaeda, the 9/11 terrorists. The war drums were sounding. Alan Moir, of the Sydney Morning Herald, had a cartoon showing Bush in a cowboy hat whooping it up aboard a missile heading for Baghdad. Tony Blair, the British PM, was sitting behind him looking just as enthusiastic. But sitting at the rear...

JOHN TULLOH. 60 Minutes - the failure to think it right through. Amazing!

One of the best pieces of advice I received in 40 years of involvement in foreign television news was Think it right through. I was arguing with a colleague on a telex machine about a certain story. I was keen for it. He was cautious, hence his advice. He was right. The story was in Beirut during the civil war. It brings the memory back to the wash-up of the 60 Minutes debacle in the Lebanese capital. Channel 9 appeared to have paid no attention to the potential consequences of such a sensitive assignment in a city not known for...

John Tulloh. The odd couple - the U.S. and Saudi Arabia and their uneasy relationship.

As enduring international couples go, the U.S. and Saudi Arabia must rank among the oddest. They have been kind of firm friends since 1933 when oil was discovered in the kingdom. Yet their societies are so different as President Obama might have seen for himself when his limousine drove through the streets of Riyadh last week. For starters, he would not have found a woman driver anywhere or one buckled up lest the bodily contours the seatbelt creates excite the male driver. America is a wide open democracy with rights for one and all whereas Saudi Arabia is like a...

John Tulloh. Erdogan leads Turkey back to the Ottoman era.

It is the time of the year when we have our annual bout of sentimental reflection on the heroics of the Anzac forces at Gallipoli a century ago. One of the Turkish military commanders whose resistance wore down the Anzacs and other allies was Kemal Ataturk, who went on to be the founder of modern Turkey in 1923. His name remains so revered in Turkey for modernising his country and transforming it into a secular state that insulting his memory is a criminal act. Ataturk would be startled at what is happening to his country today. His vision has...

John Tulloh. Springtime - the season of alarm and disharmony in Europe.

United in diversity. EUs motto.   If ever there were a line in a report to alarm European leaders, it might have been one buried in a 204-page document on the EU economy last November. It predicted that up to three million additional asylum seekers could enter the 28-nation bloc by the end of this year, according to the Washington Post. If the influx should come to pass, it is about now when the surge will begin. It is springtime in Europe when the Mediterranean and Aegean storms abate and the seas become a tempting risk for those...

John Tulloh. Middle East: The Arab Spring becomes the Arab Winter.

Arabs have rarely lived in bleaker times. The Economist. An impoverished Arab would have been been flabbergasted at the consequences of his single, desperate protest five years ago. It precipitated the ousting of his countrys ruler and two other Arab leaders, the greatest upheaval and carnage of this century in one country, protests in others, a war in another and now acute anxiety in other Arab capitals that the same might happen to them. The Arab was Mohamed Bouazizi, a vegetable market trader in Tunisia who immolated himself in protest at harassment by local officialdom. His case sparked...

John Tulloh. In praise of those who bring you the evening news.

Updated version of what appeared in Australian Cinematographer. In the world of television news, if there is one group which can rightfully claim a grievance for lack of recognition, it is the cameramen* who bring you what it is all about: the pictures, the vision, the actuality and the reason you watch news bulletins. They are the special forces of the news industry. Unlike the reporters and producers, they have to be at the front line. Otherwise, those news reports count for little. Yet their contribution is so often overlooked. It is disappointing in an industry...

John Tulloh. The Cost of the star-spangled arms banner.

Repost from 05/10/2015 O say can you see, by the dawn's early light, What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming, Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight, O'er the ramparts we watched, we're so gallantly streaming? And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air, Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there; O say does that Star-Spangled Banner yet wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave? The words of the first verse of the U.S. national anthem are now more than...

John Tulloh. Turkey's new neighbour - DAESH (Islamic State)

President Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey must feel like a chess grand master playing several games simultaneously. He has far more neighbours and different cultures to contend with than most leaders: eight in all. They are a mixed bag across more than 2600 kms of borders - Iran, Iraq, Syria, Armenia, an Azerbaijan enclave, Georgia, Bulgaria and Greece. And across the Black Sea he has Russia. Now he has an unofficial neighbour: Daesh, also known as Islamic State. It has been active along Turkeys frontier inside Syria and regards territory it has seized as part of its self-styled caliphate. It...

John Tulloh. Europe: The political impact of a dead Syrian.

Ahmed al Mohammad may have a greater impact on Europe than his evil terrorist deeds did in Paris last week. It appears he was a Syrian asylum-seeker who, according to Greek records, passed through Greece last month and made his way through the Balkans to join his cohorts in France. He satisfied whatever checks there were and was sent on his way with tens of thousands of others. We will never know what happened after then because he died in the mayhem. With the number of asylum-seekers pouring into Europe numbering 7000 a day, many will be wondering how...

John Tulloh. Turkey at a dangerous crossroad.

Spare a thought for Turkey as it goes to the polls on November 1. It straddles Europe and Asia, but it is not sure if it is part of either. Nor is it part of the Middle East, yet it shelters more Arab refugees than any other country there. They number two million - mainly Syrian - who are not exactly welcome. It is the south-east European bulwark for NATO, but the EU has taken fright at the idea of a secular Islamic nation of 76,000,000 people becoming a member. It shares a large border with two of the most...

John Tulloh. Return to the Syrian battlefield.

Foreign (military) adventures have long appealed to insecure leaders, wrote the veteran British journalist, Sir Simon Jenkins, in the right-wing Spectator magazine. Those whove had no experience of war seem to crave it. He was referring to British Prime Minister David Camerons renewed enthusiasm to get involved in Syria. He could just as well have been referring to another conservative leader, our own Tony Abbott. His cabinet this week is expected to approve what he reportedly is keen for, namely to extend Australias involvement in Iraq to the Syrian battlefield. This would mean joining a small US-led coalition force...

John Tulloh. Syria; a step too far for Tony Abbott.

It was said that in World War One the British Army laced the tea of its soldiers with bromide in order to curb their sexual impulses and concentrate on the matter at hand. It would be useful if something could be found to put in Tony Abbotts morning cuppa to inhibit his desires for military adventures. He is like a corporal trying to please a general. Media reports suggest he wants to oblige an American request for the RAAF to extend its Iraqi operation to Syria to combat ISIS or Daesh, as the Prime Minister calls it. At the...

John Tulloh. Goodbye Syria.

THE DEAD-END ROADS TO AND FROM DAMASCUS Fifteen years ago this month, Bashar al-Assad succeeded his father to become president of Syria. Having spent some years studying and living in France and England, he had hopes of a Western-style liberalisation and development and turning his country into the Switzerland of the Middle East. Those ambitions proved naively fanciful and now he finds himself inextricably wedged, the country under his control shrinking and the outlook hopeless. Assads report card is a shocking one. A four-year-old civil war. More than 200,000 people killed. A total of 7.6 million Syrians displaced...

John Tulloh. Why Eritreans are crossing the Mediterranean.

Current Affairs. ERITREA: THE NORTH KOREA OF AFRICA It is the seventh youngest nation in the world. It was born in 1993 after a 30-year war. Its flag was raised for the first time as an independent nation with high hopes for democracy in a continent dominated by too many despots. In its first years it set an example of frugality when its people were encouraged to ride bikes and, what vehicles there were, had to be modest small ones. Its original leader is still in charge 22 years later. Time for an election? Never, he said. Instead he...

John Tulloh. Gallipoli: Lest we forget the British promise to the Indians.

One hundred years on, many Australians probably still regard the Gallipoli campaign as an event involving only Australia and, to a lesser extent, New Zealand. We hear mainly legends, tales of derring-do, myths and maudlin sentimentality about the Australians who fought there. We hear next to nothing about the others who also participated in this futile exercise. It was, of course, an international campaign led by Britain and France. They suffered more deaths than the Anzacs. As a German general commanding a Turkish division observed: Seldom have so many countries of the world, races and nations sent their representatives...

John Tulloh. An inconvenient centenary Turkey prefers to ignore.

The Gallipoli battle aside, you can be sure that Turkey will not be commemorating the centenary of another major event in its history this month. A few hours before Australian, New Zealand and other allied forces landed at Gallipoli on April 25, 1915, what has become widely known as the Armenian genocide got under way in Constantinople (Istanbul). But Australians visiting Gallipoli for the other centenary should be careful about what they say. For a Turk to say it was genocide is enough to get punished for insulting the country. It is a bitter and contentious argument which has...

John Tulloh. Israel the promised land of democracy.

Surrounded by a hostile region where even basic freedoms cannot be taken for granted, Israel is to be admired for its electoral democracy at least. It has a boisterous political system full of wheeling and dealing with everybody having a say. One party even has a 101-year-old leader. Electioneering is in full swing right now for next weeks general election (March 17) with no less than 11 parties fielding candidates. The next Prime Minister will be either the incumbent, Likuds Benjamin Netanyahu, aiming for an unprecedented fourth term, or Labors Isaac Herzog, a man with Irish roots and the...

John Tulloh. The flight of Christians from the Middle East.

If there is one region which Christians increasingly want to abandon, it is the biblical heartland of their faith: the Middle East. They are fleeing in greater numbers than ever before. They are fearful of the growing turmoil in places like Syria and Iraq, the spread of radical Islam and, of course, now the presence of Islamic State (IS) and its dire warning to non-believers that 'there is nothing to give (you) but the sword'. The exodus has alarmed Pope Francis who said: 'We will not resign ourselves to imagining a Middle East without Christianity'. That is unlikely to...

John Tulloh. The season of ill will for Bethlehems Christians.

Christians in Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus, must be wondering about the traditional Christmas message of good will to men (men meaning people). They face a bleak future. Christians are fleeing in their thousands for a better life in other lands free of an occupation force, endless security checks and territorial disputes. Those who remain have what is one of the highest unemployment rates (18%) in the West Bank. Business has rarely been so bad. The main reason is two-fold: the loss of land caused by the eight-metre high concrete security barrier which Israel is building for its...

John Tulloh. The ABC on the slippery slope in Asia.

'The overall objective for the International News initiative is to focus resources on original storytelling of the highest quality, ensure our international newsgathering operations are sustainable and ensure all audiences - digital, television and radio - are considered in our coverage'. ABC announcement, November 2014. This is a worthy aim for that fickle and costly product called international news coverage. But how do you achieve this? Amid all the bloodletting at the ABC, one trend is clear for international news: the days of the old specialist foreign correspondent are over. The new hunter and gatherer of overseas news...

John Tulloh. Innocents abroad at the ABC.

INNOCENTS ABROAD AT THE ABC LOOK INWARDS AS AUSTRALIA LOOKS OUTWARDS 'Now we cross to an ABC correspondent in Beijing for the latest on the Japanese crisis...' The Guardian the other day carried a report that the ABC planned to emasculate its foreign news presence as part of its budget cuts. While the ABC has not confirmed or denied the claim, the reporter concerned has had very good contacts at the ABC for many years. If true, it means that at least 40% of the ABC's foreign bureaux will be scrapped. Nearly half. Snuffed out. Just like...

John Tulloh. Israel High Court upsets Government on asylum seekers

Israelis have been observing the month of repentance (Elul). As far as their government is concerned, it is members of the High Court who should be repenting. They have infuriated the Netanyahu government with an order to shut down a detention centre for asylum-seekers within 90 days and to reduce maximum detention without trial from one year to 60 days. It is all about what is called the Infiltrators Prevention Bill. This contained stiff measures to curb the influx of African asylum-seekers or, as the government calls them, illegal infiltrators. Israel has an estimated 48,200 asylum-seekers, mainly from...

John Tulloh. Australia could fight another far away war in a better way.

It is sobering to consider that the 21st century is only 15 years old and a geographically isolated and peaceful country like Australia has already participated in two major conflicts - Afghanistan and Iraq - and fought skirmishes in a lesser one, the birth of Timor Leste. Now we are preparing to join another one far away in Iraq and perhaps even extend that to Syria. It is just as sobering to consider a number of other facts: The disturbing images of police guarding Parliament House in Canberra being armed with assault rifles no less. This...

John Tulloh. Islamic State - The Saudi Connection.

How ironic it was that last week Saudi Arabia should host a meeting between the foreign ministers of the Arab League and U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry, to discuss what to do about the growing crisis about Islamic State (IS). The fact is that IS is inspired by Salafism, a small branch of Islam sponsored by Saudi Arabia. What's more, it is said to have got plenty of its money from Saudi supporters. Salafism represents only about three percent of the world's Moslems. It eschews modern morality and the accepted ways of 21st century life. It wants what it...

John Tulloh. Canberra's fork in the road - the humanitarian way or the warpath?

What interesting, fraught and changing times we live in. This month marks the 75th anniversary of the start of World War Two. Britain and France with little ado told Germany to get out of Poland or else. Three days later King George VI made a radio speech to the British nation that good must prevail. Robert Menzies, the Australian Prime Minister, did his 'melancholy duty' via ABC radio and without further ado off went the men of both countries to war again. It all seemed so straight forward. But today we face another fearful dilemma about another occupying force:...

John Tulloh. The Grief and Pain of Life in Gaza.

'Gaza is a tragic place', observed John Lyons, The Australian's Middle East correspondent, the other day. It certainly is. Gaza must be one of the worst places in the world in which to live or at least try to survive. For starters, its population of more than 1.7 million long-suffering Palestinians has to live in an area of just 365 sq km. Compare that with Sydney's 12,145 sq km. They have no control over their Mediterranean waters or their air space. That belongs to Israel. Israel, along with Egypt, controls who and what come in and out, making it as...

John Tulloh. Iraq's road to disintegration.

As far-fetched as this scenario was until recently, it is just possible that international governments may one day face an unprecedented dilemma: whether to recognise a caliphate as an independent country. The newly-declared Islamic State (IS) - formerly the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) - is indicating it is separate to the Baghdad and Damascus regimes. It is its own state, though the U.S. has scoffed at the very idea. Then again, there is growing indecision in Washington in how to deal with these unwelcome developments. The IS jihadists have overrun and carved out a sizable...

John Tulloh. Misery accomplished in Iraq as disintegration threatens.

Perhaps dictators have their place after all. Saddam Hussein presided over Iraq for 24 years. While he was cruel and vainglorious, he generally succeeded in ensuring Iraqis stayed in line and kept the peace. He was toppled in 2003 when the U.S., with the support of Australia and other allies, invaded the country with the aim of introducing democracy and an altogether more acceptable way of life. Today his country is unravelling with astonishing speed as a small Islamic extremist group takes control of large areas with impunity. Iraq could be even on the verge of disintegration. Since the...

John Tulloh. Egypt's new would-be Pharaoh.

The headline in The Australian was stark and brutal: SISI VOWS TO ERADICATE BROTHERHOOD. Eradicate? This is a word you associate with efforts to get rid of a disease or an agricultural pest. But in this case it was meant as a kind of cleansing of religious adherents and caused barely a ripple of protest outsider Egypt. The story, of course, referred to Egypts new strongman, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who has won this weeks presidential election. He says one of his first tasks will be to suppress the Moslem Brotherhood out of existence. His interim government has already declared...

John Tulloh. The way to the future through annexation.

Annexation, as in the latest example of Russia with Crimea, usually refers to a smaller entity being swallowed up by a bigger one. It has a long history with both violent and peaceful outcomes. A recent example is East Jerusalem which Israel took over after the Six-Day War in 1967, resulting in enmity ever since. Before that was the Anschluss in 1938 when Hitler declared Austria to be part of Nazi Germany. Not long afterwards he annexed Sudetenland, a German-speaking area of Czechoslovakia, precipitating the road to World War Two. In 1975, Indonesia invaded East Timor and announced it had...

John Tulloh. The French at Gallipoli - Lest we not Forget

A popular myth is that the Gallipoli landings were all about the Australian and New Zealand troops - the Anzacs - with the British somewhere involved, having concocted the unfortunate military adventure. But what is so often overlooked is the participation of France in the Gallipoli campaign. It may surprise a lot of people to learn that France suffered more deaths than Australia and New Zealand combined. France contributed over 40,000 troops. About 15,000 were killed as against 8141 Australians and 2721 New Zealanders. France has its own war cemetery aptly named Morto Bay, meaning Death Bay. It...

Mid-east Journey to Nowhere. Guest blogger: John Tulloh

I read Marcus Einfeld's response to my blog regarding Israeli settlements posted on October 16 with both interest and incredulity. It seems that he has grasped my piece as an opportunity to voice his own musings on the question of Israel/Palestinian relations. Mine was based on my own personal bewilderment why Israel on one hand says it wants peace, but on the other insists on aggravating the Palestinians by building settlements in disputed land when it has five times as much undisputed territory of its own. To a distant outsider, it doesn't make sense. Mr Einfeld suggests I...

The Mideast Road to Nowhere. Guest blogger: John Tulloh

If ever there were a news story which goes nowhere, it must surely come under the heading of Middle East peace talks with specific reference to the Israelis and Palestinians. Google the topic and you will find no less than 84,800,000 references at last count. Mediators come and go, the protagonists gather at the White House and Camp David, optimistic speeches are made, governments change, the Oslo accords were agreed, detailed road maps reached, fresh initiatives made, the UN has been involved and international leaders have descended on Israeli and the Palestinian capitals with high-minded intentions and yet nothing...

Israel's asylum-seeker dilemma. Guest blogger: John Tulloh.

Like Australia, Israel has a major problem of what to do with asylum-seekers. And, like Australia with our proposed Malaysia solution in 2011, Israeli legislation aimed at curbing the influx has been thrown out by the countrys highest court. Those seeking refuge in Israel did not come by boat. They came across the Sinai from Egypt, many having to pay up to $2000 to Bedouin people smugglers. The majority were Sudanese and Eritreans fleeing abusive regimes. They used to fly to Cairo for refuge until police broke up a peaceful demonstration by Sudanese in 2005 and killed 20 of...

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