sadam used to be the us friend.
That is a direct reference to the Iran-Iraq war. How could it be otherwise since (to my knowledge) that is the only time frame that the US gov't backed him.
I think that pic you posted applies very well to you

There were 19 terrorists on 9-11, not 17. In fact there was suppossed to be 20 total. One was detained somehow, dont recall exactly.