Not only leadership, war looked different back then. The Ukraine war made everyone throw away the classic war playbook.

At the time of the Iraq war the US was holding all the cards. It had a perfected playbook, the optimal technology, and support from the population. In the Iran war the old playbook is ineffective, the technology is too expensive to keep it up, and the popular support for a war demanded by another country isn't there.

And yes... you have the current crop of leaders who couldn't lead their way out of a wet paper bag.