As TRC predicted in its 2005 WAR Report forecast (WAR Report), Kuwait has become vulnerable to terrorism due to its function as a launching pad for operations in Iraq , and its oil industry has been specifically targeted because of the amount of oil it exports to the United States . A group calling itself ?the Mujahideen in Kuwait,? has announced their existence and commitment to jihad in the country. (The group has also claimed to have killed three American soldiers and one Korean, but this has not yet been reported on nor refuted by US and Kuwaiti authorities. See Intel Report). In killing and detaining a number of suspected operatives, Kuwaiti authorities say that they have uncovered and thwarted a several attacks planned for the near future, against the US military presence in the country , oil installations, and Kuwaiti government targets. An undisclosed number of detainees have been Saudi nationals, and Saudi Arabia , with a couple years? experience in the field under its belt, is helping out with intelligence sharing and other aspects of investigations.

While Saudi Arabia has done an admittedly good job infiltrating al-Qaeda cells and persistently bringing down individual terrorist operatives, the oppressive political environment and prohibition on criticizing the extremist religious nature of the country, the religious establishment, or the government stifles efforts to address the root causes of terrorism. Unlike Saudi Arabia, Kuwait allows a moderate amount of political dissent and a relatively free press, which allows the outside world, and the Kuwaiti government, to get more honest feedback from Kuwaitis themselves on what is behind the problem. Whereas the acceptable explanation for terrorism in Saudi Arabia is to blame the United States or Israel , Kuwaiti oppositionists are holding their own government accountable. ?Islamist agitation, indoctrination in our schools, mosques and even in our parliament has captured the minds of young people and they have stepped up into armed violence,” Dr. Ahmad Bishara, President of Kuwait?s National Democratic Party, said in an interview with Gulf News on January 18.