The United States plans to withdraw all of its remaining combat troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2016, bringing an end to more than a decade of war. President Obama announced the plan today, saying that the United States' combat mission would end this year as troops continued to withdraw from the country. There are around 32,000 US troops in Afghanistan today. Obama plans to cut that number down to 9,800 by the end of 2014 and to less than half of that by the end of 2015. By the end of 2016, the US plans to maintain no more than a standard embassy presence, in addition to security assistance for it, within the country.

During their final two years in Afghanistan, US troops will not be patrolling and will instead shift into an advisory role, allowing Afghan troops to take over. Obama says that the US is open to continue training Afghan troops after 2014, and that it is also open to supporting counterterrorism missions against al-Qaeda, but nothing else beyond those "two narrow missions." If the withdrawal is completed on time, it'll be finished before Obama leaves office in 2017, and — coincidentally or not — it'll be wrapping up around the time of the next US presidential election.

"We have to recognize Afghanistan will not be a perfect place, and it is not America's responsibility to make it one," Obama said. "The future of Afghanistan must be decided by Afghans."