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Terms
Al-Qaeda is an extremist Sunni organization whose goal is to create a broad caliphate or Islamic state. In the various countries in which it operates, it seeks to crush both foreign powers and moderate Muslims through violence. The organization became active in Iraq in 2003, after the U.S. invasion. The group launched many terrorist attacks in the country, in particular against Shiite Muslims (the country’s majority), and thus played an important role in stirring up the sectarian violence that ultimately led to a civil war.
Al-Qaeda Quotes in Frankenstein in Baghdad
The Frankenstein in Baghdad quotes below are all either spoken by Al-Qaeda or refer to Al-Qaeda. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 1
Quotes
With her veined and wrinkled hand, Elishva would put the Nokia phone to her ear. Upon hearing her daughters’ voices, the darkness would lift and she would feel at peace. If she had gone straight back to Tayaran Square, she would have found that everything was calm, just as she had left it in the morning. The sidewalks would be clean and the cars that had caught fire would have been towed away.
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Chapter 6
Quotes
But there were two fronts now, Mahmoud said to himself— the Americans and the government on one side, the terrorists and the various antigovernment militias on the other. In fact “terrorist” was the term used for everyone who was against the government and the Americans.
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Chapter 8
Quotes
Honestly, I think everyone was responsible in one way or another. I’d go further and say that all the security incidents and the tragedies we’re seeing stem from one thing—fear. The people on the bridge died because they were frightened of dying. Every day we’re dying from the same fear of dying. The groups that have given shelter and support to al-Qaeda have done so because they are frightened of another group, and this other group has created and mobilized militias to protect itself from al-Qaeda. It has created a death machine working in the other direction because it’s afraid of the Other. And we’re going to see more and more death because of fear. The government and the occupation forces have to eliminate fear. They must put a stop to it if they really want this cycle of killing to end.
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Al-Qaeda Term Timeline in Frankenstein in Baghdad
The timeline below shows where the term Al-Qaeda appears in Frankenstein in Baghdad. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 8: Secrets
...and allowed the bridge to become too crowded. Another man on the show argues that al-Qaeda is responsible for this. Even if the terrorist group is not personally involved in this...
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...on the bridge to jump to their death. Similarly, people who fear armed groups support al-Qaeda. This, in turn, only leads to more insecurity, as new militias are created, to protect...
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Chapter 10: The Whatsitsname
...makeup to hide his appearance. He explained that he only had two targets left: an al-Qaeda member and a Venezuelan mercenary. He recalled some of his past difficulties: although bullets did...
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...recruiting suicide bombers such as the one who organized the Sadeer Novotel attack, and an al-Qaeda leader responsible for the bomb in Tayaran Square. However, as old body parts were replaced...
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