This political cartoon shows what the US's future role in Afghanistan looks like

For over 13 years, from October 7, 2001 until December 28, 2014, the US and NATO were conducting combat operations in Afghanistan. 

And, although combat operations were meant to have stopped and the US had begun withdrawing troops from the country by the end of 2014, continued gains by the Taliban and the seeming weakness of the Afghan National Army have forced the US to continue its role in the war torn country.

Overall, the US maintains a force of nearly 10,000 in Afghanistan, although President Obama plans to draw that force down to 5,500 in 2017.  At that point the war would have lasted for 16 years.

In response to this continuation of US presence in the country, cartoonist Jack Ohman of The Sacramento Bee published this cartoon, which helped him win the 2016 "Editorial Cartooning" Pulitzer Prize. 

Jack Ohman/The Sacramento Bee/Courtesy of Pulitzer Prizes