13 photos that sum up the US role in Afghanistan these last 13 years

This story was originally published on Oct. 7, 2014 and has been edited to reflect new events. US and NATO forces symbolically concluded their mission in Afghanistan on Dec. 8, 2014.

The Afghanistan War is now 13 years old. It's America's longest war, a record no one is celebrating or even really talking about. And while military operations are drawing down, they aren't exactly ending.

Afghanistan's new president, Ashraf Ghani, in October signed a deal with the United Sates that would allow 9,800 troops to remain in the country (later in the year, that number went up by 1,000). Military operations will also likely continue in other forms, like the targeted US drone strikes still happening all the time in neighboring Pakistan. And military contractors will continue to be busy. Ten thousands of them are expected to be based at Bagram Airfield, alongside 5,000 US soldiers.

So what have 13 years of war accomplished? Not much if you look at recent events:

There were frequent attacks in Kabul late last month, specifically targeting foreign forces. In late September, the Taliban killed 100 Afghan civilians during an offensive in eastern Afghanistan. Militants beheaded 15 people, including women and children. A couple weeks before that, on Sept. 16, a Taliban suicide bomber killed three members of the NATO security force in Kabul — two from the United States and a third from Poland. And a month before that a member of the Afghan National Army shot and killed the most senior American officer of the war.

It seems the Afghanistan War didn't pan out the way planners imagined it would. Even many US soldiers still in Afghanistan recognize the war's failure.

This set of photos perhaps best sums up the US role in Afghanistan over the last 13 years.

2001

US special forces enter the Kandahar airport December 15, 2001 where they are setting up a base of operation and a camp for prisoners captured in Tora Bora /span> (Paula Bronstein/Getty Images)

2002

Special forces soldiers of the US Army's 2nd Battalion, 19th Special Forces Group Airborne discuss plans as detainees sit during a search August 22, 2002 in Narizah, Afghanistan (Wally Santana-Pool/Getty Images)

2003

An Afghan man watches as soldiers from the 82nd Airborne search his village during "Operation Viper" February 19, 2003 in the Baghran Valley, Afghanistan (David Swanson-Pool/Getty Images)

2004

US soldiers with the Charlie Co. 151st Infantry Brigade from Indiana patrol around Kabul Afghanistan on October 13, 2004 (Paula Bronstein/Getty Images)

2005

US soldiers belonging to the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) stand guard outside the vote counting centre in Kabul, 20 September 2005 (Shah Marai/AFP/Getty Images)

2006

An Afghan police recruit frisks a comrade during training on June 6, 2006 in Kandahar, Afghanistan. Police recruits receive a 5-9 week basic course supervised by American security contractors (John Moore/Getty Images)

2007

A US soldier guards suspected Afghan villagers for interrogation during a search operation for Taliban insurgents June 14, 2007 (Nicolas Asfouri/AFP/Getty Images)

2008

US Marine Staff Sgt. Joseph Debose, 26, stands amongst village elders as Afghan and American forces search for weapons October 25, 2008 in the Korengal Valley of Kunar Province in eastern Afghanistan (John Moore/Getty Images)

2009

An afghan man looks on as a US soldier from the Provincial Reconstruction team (PRT) Steel Warriors patrols in the mountains of Nuristan Province on December 19, 2009 (Tauseef Mustafa/AFP/Getty Images)

2010

US Army advisors train Afghan national policemen in close quarters battle techniques on March 18, 2010 at Forward Operating Base Ramrod in Kandahar province, Afghanistan (John Moore/Getty Images)

2011

US Marines train Afghan National Policemen (ANP) on a shooting range at Camp Leatherneck on the outskirts of Lashkar Gah in Helmand Province on February 17, 2011 (Adek Berry/AFP/Getty Images)

2012

A US Army soldier searches an Afghan man during a patrol near Baraki Barak base in Logar Province, on October 13, 2012 (Munir Uz Zaman/AFP/Getty Images)

2013

A soldier with the 10th Mountain Division of the US Army walks past a traditional Afghan bread shop in Ghazni city on May 19, 2013 (Dibyangshu Sarkar/AFP/Getty Images)

2014

March 5, 2014 in Kandahar, Afghanistan (Scott Olson/Getty Images)