Waziristan IV: Trying to imagine an American version of the frontier scouts
Could we put together a force in Afghanistan similar to the British-organized Frontier Scouts? I wonder. It would take patience. And imagine the regular Army’s reaction to this image, offered by Roe in his book on Waziristan: The men wore loose khaki shirts outside baggy Muslim trousers and on their heads a small, tight turban ...
Could we put together a force in Afghanistan similar to the British-organized Frontier Scouts? I wonder. It would take patience. And imagine the regular Army's reaction to this image, offered by Roe in his book on Waziristan:
Could we put together a force in Afghanistan similar to the British-organized Frontier Scouts? I wonder. It would take patience. And imagine the regular Army’s reaction to this image, offered by Roe in his book on Waziristan:
The men wore loose khaki shirts outside baggy Muslim trousers and on their heads a small, tight turban wound round a skull cap. In order not to stand out from their men, ‘the Scout officers … were dressed in the same manner as their men, even to the turbans, though they carried automatics, commando knives and walking-sticks instead of rifles and bayonets.’"
Thomas E. Ricks is a former contributing editor to Foreign Policy. Twitter: @tomricks1
More from Foreign Policy

Chinese Hospitals Are Housing Another Deadly Outbreak
Authorities are covering up the spread of antibiotic-resistant pneumonia.

Henry Kissinger, Colossus on the World Stage
The late statesman was a master of realpolitik—whom some regarded as a war criminal.

The West’s False Choice in Ukraine
The crossroads is not between war and compromise, but between victory and defeat.

The Masterminds
Washington wants to get tough on China, and the leaders of the House China Committee are in the driver’s seat.