If President Donald Trump backs down at this point in the war, it will leave the Gulf States to face a more radicalized and dangerous Iran seeking to impose its will on the Muslim world.

After Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait in 1990, Osama bin Laden offered to defend Saudi Arabia using his network of jihadist fighters rather than relying on the U.S. Shocked at the arrival of the Americans, the terrorist leader condemned what he saw as an “occupation” of American “crusader forces” in the Muslim holy land.