{"id":32715,"date":"2017-10-03T15:31:03","date_gmt":"2017-10-03T15:31:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2017\/10\/03\/the-pentagon-has-a-new-acronym-for-afghanistan-can-it-win-the-war\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T22:42:38","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T22:42:38","slug":"the-pentagon-has-a-new-acronym-for-afghanistan-can-it-win-the-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/pentagon\/2017\/10\/03\/the-pentagon-has-a-new-acronym-for-afghanistan-can-it-win-the-war\/","title":{"rendered":"The Pentagon has a new acronym for Afghanistan. Can it win the war?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2015 The Trump administration\u2019s Afghanistan strategy has a new acronym, one which the Pentagon\u2019s top officials say will lay the groundwork for a stable Afghanistan in the future. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Appearing in front of the Senate Armed Services Committee, U.S. Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis described the strategy as \u201cR4+S,\u201d which stands for \u201cregionalize, realign, reinforce, reconcile and sustain.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both Mattis and Gen. Joe Dunford, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, sought to draw a line between U.S. President Donald Trump\u2019s strategy and that of the Obama administration, with Dunford flatly stating that the U.S. drawdown was \u201ctoo far and too fast\u201d to allow for success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But senators expressed skepticism that the strategy truly would change anything on the ground after 16 years of ongoing conflict.<\/p>\n\n\n\t