Todd raised his voice, rolled his eyes. The soldiers around him stood closer, barking admonitions and threats back at him. “Why are we here?” he asked a passing soldier. “You guys are al Qaeda,” the soldier said. Todd laughed derisively, but Zeitoun was startled. He could not have heard right. Why does the author describe this encounter? to illustrate Todd’s casual rapport with the soldiers to emphasize the weight of racist assumptions to reveal a language barrier between Todd and the soldiers to indicate Todd’s involvement with terrorist groups