Grapes of wrath?

I like to keep raisins around. They're good to put in yogurt, on cereal, in recipes, everything but the dog. Great fiber, which becomes more important by the year. And besides, they're nature's candy. 

Recently I got some when I girded my loins and did the weekly shopping at Walmart. 

You never know how you're going to do with store brands, and Walmart is dicier than others. I've had good luck with some of their knockoff cereals, and staples like beans and canned vegetables, but I find their cheese pretty poor. So it could go either way.

I thought the raisins went the other way.

Small, too dry, and hard, these raisins did have that great raisin flavor, but the texture was poor. They were very cheap, though, a buck for a six pack of 1-ounce boxes. We're blessed to have some awesome grapes in many states in this country, so I wondered if these were from overseas. Indeed they were, and I was shocked to find out from where:

Walmart is importing raisins from Afghanistan. Hmm.

I was struck by several thoughts immediately, which included the following:

1) I'm really, REALLY glad that Afghanistan is exporting more than illegal drugs and terrorism and illegal immigrants and slaves.

2) What other legal products are we importing from that war-torn rock farm? Well, it turns out we imported $34 million worth of things in 2016, including "precious metal and stone (precious, semi precious) ($7 million), carpets and other textile coverings ($5 million), edible fruit & nuts (other fruit, dried) ($1 million), and electrical machinery ($1 million)." Who knew? Well, the carpets and textiles they're famous for.

3) After having a nominally US-friendly government in place since 2001, this is the first time I've ever heard of anything imported from there.

4) I encourage industry and wealth in all poor but friendly nations of the world, so I was sorry that I didn't like their raisins. Maybe they dried out on the way over.

It's true that $34 million in international trade is a pittance, and Afghanistan is 93rd on our list of trading partners. It may only be that high on the list because of all the stuff we sell them -- $913 million worth -- probably with money we've put up.

Is there hope that one day this country will not be an Islamist basket case that needs constant propping up from US blood and treasure?

I don't know. George W. Bush warned that the War on Terror would take decades, a hard pill to swallow, and I have no idea if we've followed anything like a consistent strategy in the years since 9/11. I am sure that if Afghanistan wants to become a civilized nation on the world stage, it will need to be engaged in honest commerce.

Raisins may be a small start. And they are nature's candy. Just ask Molly.