Iraq mattered in another, more subtle way. It was the most clear-cut example of the general deterioration in the quality of American leadership since the end of the Cold War. Even considering the Biden Administration’s middling-competent handling of the Ukraine War thus far, the record of presidential leadership in foreign policy from Harry Truman to George H. W. Bush (and including Dwight Eisenhower, Richard Nixon, and Ronald Reagan) was of a much higher caliber than from Bill Clinton to the current occupant of the White House (and including George W. Bush and Donald Trump).
