Despite the myths, there is no such thing as winning militarily and losing politically

By Paul Yingling

Best Defense department of timely reminders

Nobody who wins a war indulges in a bifurcated definition of
victory. War is a political act; victory and defeat have meaning only in
political terms. A country incapable of achieving its political
objectives at an acceptable cost is losing the war, regardless of battlefield
events.



Bifurcating victory (e.g. winning militarily, losing politically) is a useful
salve for defeated armies. The "stab in the back" narrative helped
take the sting out of failure for German generals after WWI and their American
counterparts after Vietnam.



All the same, it's nonsense. To paraphrase Vince Lombardi, show me a
political loser, and I'll show you a loser.