>> reporter: prince turki al faisal was the head of saudi arabia's intelligence service. he told me that in 1990 bin laden offered up his army to drive out the communists from neighboring yemen, but the saudis didn't take him seriously. later that year, when saddam hussein invaded kuwait, bin laden once again offered his troops to the saudis. >> he asked other officials in the kingdom for the opportunity, again, to bring his mujahadin, as he called them, to drive out saddam hussein from kuwait. and again he was told that that was not the right thing to do. >> reporter: instead, the saudis turned to the west for help. the u.s. led a multi-national coalition with hundreds of thousands of american troops in the land of the two holiest places, mecca and medina.