OF THE
TIMES



"I could stay in the Marine Corps for another three years, but I don't think that's the path I'm on," Scheller said. "I'm resigning my commission as a United States Marine effective now.The video, titled "Your Move," shows Scheller sitting in front of a chessboard in an abandoned school bus near his home in North Carolina.
"I am forfeiting retirements, all entitlements, I don't want a single dollar," he said. "I don't want any money from the VA. I don't want any VA benefits. I'm sure I'm entitled 100 percent."



After the Taliban takeover, the Islamic group's spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid vowed to crack down on the production of narcotics, saying "nobody can be involved" in the heroin trade, which has been a key source of funding for the group.Perhaps this image makeover has more to do with acceptance within the international community rather than an actual rebooted morality. From RT:
Afghanistan's new rulers, the Taliban, while ostensibly seeking to portray a more moderate image by Western standards has vowed to police poppy cultivation more heavily.
Leaders of the Islamist group, which took control of the country in the wake of US and NATO forces pulling out, have been telling farmers in the southern province of Kandahar to stop cultivating opium poppies, according to The Wall Street Journal, citing local residents. Farmers are unhappy but have no choice but to comply should the Taliban begin to enforce the ban, the outlet cites a Kandahar grower as saying.
...
"If the Taliban prohibit the cultivation of poppy, people will die from starvation, especially when international aid stops. We still hope they will let us grow poppies. Nothing can compensate for the income we get from growing poppies," a poppy farmer in the Chora district of Uruzgan was quoted as saying.
NATO member Turkey is reportedly nearing a deal to recognize Afghanistan's Taliban government and operate the Kabul airport in partnership with Qatar, paving the way for the Islamist group to attract foreign aid and investment.
The agreement is awaiting approval by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and will be finalized once Washington's exit is completed, the Middle East Eye (MEE) reported on Saturday, citing two unidentified people familiar with the negotiations.
...
One apparent sticking point in Ankara's talks with the Taliban has been the issue of who will provide airport security. "How can we give the security to you (the Taliban)?" Erdogan told reporters on Saturday. "How would we explain it to the world if you took over security and there is another bloodbath there? This is not an easy job."
The MEE report indicated that Turkey would provide security through a private contractor, manned by former Turkish soldiers and police. And Turkish special forces would operate in plainclothes to protect the country's citizens within the airport's perimeter.
In return, the Taliban would be recognized by Ankara as Afghanistan's legitimate government.
Comment: For those with eyes to see, it's clear that Australia (and New Zealand) have been used as a testing ground for how far draconian restrictions on civil liberties can be taken. There has been no lack of petty tyrants willing to enforce them.