On the eve of the first Gulf War, based on materials that were not all authentic and real Kuwaiti anxiety, the American public was exposed to the plight of those living under the threat of Saddam Hussein's invasion of their country.
When President Bush Sr. announced that America would not stand back and that he would send his army to the region - American support was sky high, even though no American denied that Bush would rake in side profits from the war.
After all, any just war also provides for weapons companies or politicians.
But Bush has taught America that its values are being trampled on - national dignity, human dignity, liberal dignity and democratic dignity - and that there are moments when the evil ethos needs to be fought in the name of the good ethos.
The Americans continued to support the war even after learning, the studies found, that parts of the horror stories published about the Iraqi actions in Kuwait were exaggerated, and that it was doubtful that Saddam and his men had any unconventional weapons at all.
Media studies conducted after that war illustrated the power of leadership: when it is determined and charismatic - it is sweeping and compelling.
The "liberal society", the "sensitive to losses", the "apathetic" or the "individual", is not necessarily such.
The power of the leader in shaping the agenda and psychology of the masses is immense, then and now.
But into the current vacuum no leader has entered, and those who are supposed to be the guides of the free world, the one who has to fight for its values, have chosen to be at most commentators, or opinion pollsters.
This weekend we witnessed one of the most heartbreaking media plays in the field of leadership.
Initially, it was President Joe Biden, who, like the latest CNN commentator, said he "estimates Putin will attack Ukraine in the coming days," to arouse public opinion, not in the world but in the American public.
He even sent Ned Price, a spokesman for his State Department, who will also serve as a commentator, commenting on the many tools and soldiers Russia is concentrating at the border saying, "I was a soldier myself ... these are not things you do if you plan to pack up and go home."
Increased to do Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, a fan of Churchill, who in a series of interviews estimated that not only is Russia planning to invade Ukraine from the Donbas region, which is in the east, but in his opinion it will probably invade both Belarus and the region around Kiev.
These are his two leaders who would rise in parallel to the speech and claim that the free world is in danger, and who decided that their army would do everything in its power to stop the Russian madness - would probably win unprecedented popular sympathy sweeping other countries.
Only this time they threw interpretations into the air and expected, perhaps begging for, "spontaneous" responses from civil society associations or veterans urging them to act.
It does not occur to them, God forbid, to do anything proactive.
These are not leaders who produce an agenda, but at most agenda readers who are gently trying to produce a small tool experiment and anticipate its consequences, lest it give them legitimacy to send another squadron or declare another sanction.
Biden and Johnson, it seems, are not at all aware of the fact that the leader has the power to shape the framing, the tone, the position and the political psychology of the public and the media, and instead run away from leadership like wildfire.
And it is impossible without a word about the Israeli space: if we are in a similar predicament, in danger of a multi-faceted invasion or a missile attack that we find difficult to withstand - we will not expect automatic assistance from colleagues who call themselves allies.
They will turn to public opinion in their countries and explain to them about the plight of Israelis, that it is likely that Jews will be slaughtered there in Jerusalem.
They will examine and scrutinize public opinion as to whether this will lead to some demonstration against them in Washington that will prompt them to send some form of aid to the only democracy in the Middle East.
We will receive sympathy and empathy, but until military assistance is realized - we ourselves will be required to face the inferno and the fire.
Were we wrong?
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