We don’t know Lucas Kunce in The Mining Journal newsroom, but we wish we did.

That’s because Kunce, who hails from Missouri, appears to be that rare bird in politics who tells the truth about a nettlesome issue because he has been there and done that.

A candidate for U.S. Senate, Kunce drew upon his substantial experience as a U.S. Marine serving in Iraq and Afghanistan in penning a recent opinion piece for The Kansas City Star.

While we encourage readers to look the piece up and read it for themselves (here’s the online address: https://www.kansascity.com/opinion/readers-opinion/guest-commentary/article253641358.html) in a nutshell Kunce observes the chaos unfolding in Ahghanistan was not only predictable but inevitable.

Kunce believes, and we tend to agree, that U.S. policymakers and top military brass have been, shall we say, less than forthcoming in their assessment of matters there.

Kunce brands the Afghani military little more than a jobs program paid for by the American taxpayer.

Was President Biden’s decision to pull U.S. forces correct? Absolutely not, he opines. The U.S. should have left Afghanistan in 2002 or 2003.

“Every year we didn’t get out was another year the Taliban used to refine their skills and tactics against us — the best fighting force in the world,” he wrote. “After two decades, $2 trillion and nearly 2,500 American lives lost, 2021 was way too late to make the right call. …

“The lies about Afghanistan matter not just because of the money spent or the lives lost, but because they are representative of a systematic dishonesty that is destroying our country from the inside out.”

Kunce is no left-wing crazy. He’s a former Marine who experienced first hand the utter frustration of trying to pound a square peg into a round hole.

We don’t agree with or endorse all of that he believes. But certainly there is much truth in his writing.

It should give all of us, from both sides of the proverbial aisle, much to consider.