When he saw me coming up the officer said, 'We've lost that information, [dang] it! They've killed that Arab of yours.'

Question

When he saw me coming up the officer said, 'We've lost that information, [dang] it! They've killed that Arab of yours.'

'We've lost it,' I said.

I went over to Abdul-Karim's body and turned it over. He looked as though he had seen me swimming in the pool a few moments ago. His was not the expression of a man who had lost.

There, in the courtyard, it was I, all of us, who were the losers.
What can be infer about the narrator and the officer from this excerpt?

They are sympathetic to Abdul-Karim's political cause
They do not consider themselves to be Arab
They are all soldiers
They expect to win the war

Answer 1

It cannot be inferred from this excerpt what the narrator and the officer feel about Abdul-Karim's political cause or their own ethnic identity, nor can it be determined if they are soldiers or expect to win the war. The excerpt only describes their reaction to Abdul-Karim's death and the loss of information.

Answer 2

Based on this excerpt, it can be inferred that the narrator and the officer are soldiers. The narrator refers to the officer using the term "officer" and mentions the presence of Abdul-Karim's body in the courtyard. This suggests that the narrator and the officer are involved in a conflict or war. No other conclusions about their sympathy towards Abdul-Karim's cause, their ethnic identity, or their expectations of winning the war can be confidently inferred based on this excerpt.