The United States has reached another grim milestone in its war in Afghanistan. On Oct. 7, U.S. forces marked their 16th year of involvement in the conflict. What began as retaliation against al Qaeda, which had plotted the 9/11 attacks under the sanctuary of Afghanistan's erstwhile Taliban government, turned into a fight to prevent the country's ungoverned spaces from becoming a future haven for militancy. This year's anniversary marks a change in Washington's approach to the long-running conflict, however. U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis recently unveiled a revitalized plan to break the ongoing stalemate between the Taliban-led insurgency and the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces. The plan Mattis outlined Oct. 3 during a hearing of the U.S. House Armed Services Committee would reshape both the tactical and strategic approaches to the war by the United States.