It was only a matter of time until terrorists moved into Kuwait . The al-Sabah regime had been a dependable ally of the US even before American-led troops liberated them from Saddam?s invasion in 1991. After the invasion, Kuwaitis took to referring to George H.W. Bush as ?Baba Bush? (our father, Bush) out of gratitude. Kuwait has cooperated in the war on Iraq since Operation Iraqi Freedom I, allowing Coalition forces to use it as a launching pad for operations. Masses of troops and materials move through Kuwait into Iraq, and Kuwaiti businesses and translators operate with the troops. In October 2003, Osama Bin Laden himself singled out Kuwait as a target, declaring, ?”We [al-Qaeda ] reserve the right to retaliate at the appropriate time and place against all countries involved [in the Iraq war], especially the UK, Spain, Australia, Poland, Japan and Italy, not to exclude those Muslim states that took part, especially the Gulf states, and in particular Kuwait, which has become a beachhead for the crusading forces.?

A couple of weeks ago, a group called the ?Mujahideen in Kuwait,? posted an Internet statement announcing their existence and claiming responsibility for an attack on US servicemen that apparently never happened (Intel Report). On February 1, a group referring to itself both as ?the Abdulaziz al-Muqrin Brigades? and the ?Lions of the Peninsula Brigades? announced its existence and threatened Kuwait with ?lots of dead and wounded innocent people? and ?a great war? if the Kuwaiti government did not meet its demand to expel all westerners from its soil. The group is believed to be comprised of veterans of the Iraq insurgency who have snuck into Kuwait, Saudi al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula who have fled the iron-fisted counter-terror campaign by Saudi security forces in the Kingdom, and disgruntled Kuwaiti soldiers. For reasons laid out in this WAR Report, Kuwait is much better positioned than Saudi Arabia to attack this problem before its terrorist movement can develop any inertia.