Friend,

The news from Afghanistan has been difficult to watch, especially for those of us who served there. I’m thinking a lot about our Afghan allies who stood shoulder to shoulder with us, and how imperative it is that we bring them and their families to safety as soon as humanly possible.

Through all of it, I’ve heard a lot of people, veterans included, wondering whether it was all in vain. I know the wars will always be controversial, but the service of our men and women in uniform is not. I believe their sacrifices, and those made by their families, have had an important and positive impact on U.S. security.

My friend Michael O’Hanlon and I wrote about why that matters as we approach the 20th anniversary of the September 11th attacks. Please take a minute to read our op-ed in USA Today and share your thoughts.

The rush to turn the events in Afghanistan into a partisan football is a big reason a lot of people like me are turned off by politics in the first place. This is about something a lot bigger than blue team versus red team.

This week, some members of Congress reversed their publicly held beliefs to try to blame a member of the other party for what’s happening in Afghanistan right now. That kind of behavior is the very reason we need to elect more people who know what service really means. It’s why I started Honor Bound: to help inspire more women who’ve led lives of service to run for elected office. (If you’d like updates on that work, you can sign up here.)

When my seven-year-old asked us the other night what was happening in Afghanistan, I told him the enemy that his father and his mother fought there had taken over. Then he asked, “Does that mean that I have to go and fight there someday?” Erik and I looked at each other. We felt so much emotion in that moment.

I told him, no. Let’s hope that no American will ever have to fight there again. But we must do what we can to get our friends and partners and their families to safety.

Amy