Afghans have benefited enormously from America's military presence. But with the number of American troops falling and U.S. bases shrinking, Afghans have been left with the scraps.
Scraping Out A Living
![Outside Bagram Airfield, the biggest U.S. military base in Afghanistan. ](https://gdb.rferl.org/6ef33042-c8ff-491f-a083-d3a546c44672_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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Outside Bagram Airfield, the biggest U.S. military base in Afghanistan.
![Bagram Bazaar is located just outside the base. Customers can buy groceries as well as goods smuggled from Bagram Airfield. ](https://gdb.rferl.org/244bc3f5-1f59-4ba6-ad47-3ede4ec0b041_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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Bagram Bazaar is located just outside the base. Customers can buy groceries as well as goods smuggled from Bagram Airfield.
![Halim rents out a stall at Bagram Bazaar. He worked at the base for seven years before being fired earlier this year. ](https://gdb.rferl.org/489707ea-104e-4c7b-b7b5-a9a4fab8f4cc_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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Halim rents out a stall at Bagram Bazaar. He worked at the base for seven years before being fired earlier this year.
![Homayoon's metal business has fallen on hard times. He was contracted by the U.S. military for five years, but that ended earlier this year. ](https://gdb.rferl.org/2626499f-3a9b-4904-a069-cdedf60a9bed_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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Homayoon's metal business has fallen on hard times. He was contracted by the U.S. military for five years, but that ended earlier this year.