I don't mean to be demeaning by breaking this down, but I really do think Saddam Hussein falls under the definition of a terrorist. The war on terror is a war against terrorists. By definition, a terrorist is "The unlawful use or threatened use of force or violence (meets that requirement) by a person or an organized group (meets that requirement) against people or property with the intention of intimidating or coercing societies or governments (meets that requirement)."
And as for the topic of World War II, it should by no means be stated as a high point for the United States (This may just be me misunderstanding or seeing something implied that was really not, but so be it). Sure, the war caused political, economic, and militarily gains such as turning us into a superpower, but the question is, at what price? You can look at casualties and losses of that sort, but we lost something more that deeply effects us today. America is gone. It's foundation began crumbling many year before World War II, but with that event it was toppled and that pillar of light was destroyed and replaced with this beast of a country we live in today.