I'm VERY late to this thread, because it's dated, but I just saw (and HAD to respond to) this:
sntjohnny said, "And Hussein was in a state of war with the US just as Al Qaeda had been. "
Correct. There was a cease fire with Iraq, but no peace treaty. Therefore, the destruction of Sad-am's regime is the CULMINATION of the 1990-91 Gulf War. We won.